School Spirit is in Their Blood
by kamikaze2007
Summary: Ophelia decides to follow in her father's footsteps by going out for cheerleading, but quickly runs into the problem of her friend Soleil, who doesn't seem to take this beloved past time seriously, despite her father being the cheer coach. Maybe she can be convinced if a pretty girl tells her to get her head out of the clouds-and the gutter. Slowburn high school AU
1. Tryouts

**When I heard that Soleil's birthday was coming up and that it was relatively close to Ophelia's birthday, I just knew I had to write a fic about them getting together, because they're easily my favorite ship in Fates so far. Strangely enough, this first chapter, though published on Soleil's birthday, focuses on Ophelia. Don't worry, because the chapter I'll post on Ophelia's birthday will reverse it and focus on Soleil. Anyway, happy birthday to my favorite Fates child!**

* * *

The news was delivered in a very frank way, uncharacteristic of her family, but giving it felt like that moment in a movie when someone dramatically slammed a paper onto a desk. The five words were fired with precision, and she knew they hit their mark when her father's eyes lit up and his jaw dropped. The surprise was quickly replaced with pride shortly after he asked her to repeat those words. Once more, the words "I'm going out for cheerleading" spilled from Ophelia's mouth, causing her father to smile wider than she had ever seen.

"That's great!" And thus, the dramatics picked up once more just as quickly as they had been dropped. He continued, "no, that's better than great, that's fantastic! I always knew you were destined to follow in your father's footsteps, Ophelia. But...tell me, you're not just doing this because your father did when he was in high school, right?"

Ophelia shook her head. "I understand, but don't fear, father. I'm doing this because I want to, and not just because my father was the best cheerleader in the school's history."

Owain laughed and put a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "Heh, silly Ophelia, your high school is unstained by our family's legacy, remember?"

After a moment of thought, Ophelia remembered that fact and smiled sheepishly. "Right. I often forget that you went to a very different high school."

After sharing a laugh, Owain continued gushing over his daughter's decision. "Don't worry, that just means that you have an opportunity to carve out your own niche, and show your school theatrics and gymnastics like they've never seen before!

Ophelia smiled, but shrugged in response. "Well, I haven't actually tried out yet, so don't get too excited, just in case I don't make it."

Owain barked a laugh. "Nonsense! You're just as talented as your father was, so you'll be accepted no matter what." He leaned in and held a hand to the edge of his mouth, as if sharing a sensitive secret. "And besides, I happen to know for a fact that your prospective cheer coach is one of my childhood best friends, so I can pull some str—"

"No," Ophelia said quickly. "If I don't get accepted, that's that. I refuse to have my daddy buy my way onto the squad."

"That is very noble of you," Owain said with a nod. "You said the best thing you could have said to that, and for that I'm very proud of you."

"Thanks, father!" Ophelia bounced and headed off into her room to do her night's work and prepare for the next day.

A week later, Ophelia made a mad dash for the door after about a half hour of staring in herself in the mirror and fretting over every little detail of her small, round face. She was stopped when she took a hold of the handle by her father attempting to calm her. "Whoa whoa, where's the fire? Have you even eaten yet?"

"I don't have time for breakfast," she explained as she turned to face her confused father. "The cheer tryouts are today, and I've already wasted enough time making sure I look perfect."

Owain shook his head and put a hand on her shoulder, bringing her further into the house despite her protests. "No no no, you need to eat breakfast. Not only is it the most important meal of the day, but you'll also be glad you did after you've gone through the rigors of what today holds."

"I'll be fine, dad," Ophelia insisted. "Tryouts are at the end of the day, so I'll have eaten lunch by then."

Owain sighed, not budging on his stance. "Trust me, you _will_ be glad you did."

Desperate, Ophelia bounced in place and made motions towards the door, where her mother was waiting in the car just outside. "I'm gonna be late for school! What would mom think of you getting in the way of my education like this?"

"Ophelia, I'm not letting you leave for school until you eat something, your mother be damned." After saying that, Owain grimaced, really hoping that his wife hadn't heard him.

Ophelia groaned and made a run for the pantry. She pulled out a tin-wrapped toaster pastry and held it up like it was a bargaining chip. "I'll eat it on the drive, okay?" After receiving a slightly defeated shrug in response, she flashed a warm smile and kissed her dad's cheek before racing out of the house, calling behind her, "see ya after school dad, love you!" She piled into her mother's car and immediately sentenced the vaguely breakfast-like food to sitting unopened on the back passenger seat. She brushed a strand of blonde hair out of her face and told her mom to step on it, frantic to make it to school on time.

Ophelia could feel every individual second of the day as it passed, each one seeming to take its sweet time, some moreso than the ones surrounding them. During one of the passing periods, Ophelia checked her phone (which she kept in her locker like a responsible student) to see that her father had texted her. It was a long, wordy text filled with warnings not to reply while driving or during class, and it came complete with one of those signatures parents put on text messages, but the ultimate take away was the simple question about whether she was sure she didn't want him to get her in good with the cheer coach. She replied, very plainly, that yes she was absolutely sure, because if she didn't deserve to make the cheer squad, that was that. She didn't get a reply until two classes later, but it was a very long message of understanding and well wishes. She smiled at it and took the words to heart, using them to fuel herself through the day. Whenever her nerves would start acting up, she would recall those words and surge forward in her day with renewed confidence.

Her real first meal of the day, lunch, was spent quietly psyching herself up, building her determination and thinking about what she would need to do. "Limber thoughts, Ophelia," she told herself over and over as she picked at her food. This quiet determination raised some concerns with buddies of hers. She was approached as lunch was beginning to wrap up by one of those buddies, who was wearing a concerned look and fidgeting her hands. "Hey, Ophelia? Are you alright?"

Ophelia snapped back into reality and looked at her new guest, confused until she realized who exactly it was. "Hm? Oh, hey Sophie, what do you need?"

Sophie laughed nervously. "I wanted to know if you're alright. You're never this quiet during lunch. Usually there's at least one dramatic proclamation by now."

Ophelia smiled and reached up to play with her hair a bit. "Oh, right, sorry about that. I'm just a little sidetracked today."

Sophie tilted her head to the side and took a seat to get on Ophelia's level. "What's up? Wanna talk about it or somethin'?"

"It's no big deal, really," Ophelia explained with a shrug. "I'm going out for cheerleading today, so I'm psyching myself up."

At the mention of the event, Sophie perked up and her face broke out into a smile. "Oh, I see! Funny, 'cuz I'm trying out too! We can psyche each other up together!"

They shared a laugh, which raised Ophelia's spirits. "Aren't you a bit klutzy though?"

Sophie shrugged as she settled into the seat she had taken. "I guess, but I figure cheerleading could help me work on that, you know?"

Ophelia nodded understanding. "Can't argue with that. I'm excited, but also really nervous. My dad used to be a cheerleader too, so I have a lot to live up to."

Sophie nodded. "I see, I see. Well, don't worry, I know you can do it."

Ophelia swallowed her food and gave Sophie a grateful smile. "Thanks, Sophie. You can do it too."

Sophie pumped her fist into the air and cheered. "Woo! I am so down for this! I was excited before, but knowing you'll be there makes it so much more interesting!"

The rest of lunch passed, the girls talking about nothing in particular to pass the time, and once it was time to head back to class, they parted ways with mutual well wishes and warm smiles.

At long last, the end of the day came and the final bell rang. Ophelia grabbed her things from her locker and took a deep breath before making haste to the gym, where tryouts were meant to take place.

In the gym, there must have been at least twenty girls—and only one or two guys—preparing to show off their skills for the man pacing in front of the bleachers with his hands behind his back. Ophelia quickly changed into her gym uniform and stood in line, watching the man count heads over and over. "Okay, the sign up sheets had twenty-five names on it, and I count twenty-three heads. Who are we missing?"

The girls talked between each other, trying to figure it out, but Ophelia figured it out rather quickly. She raised her hand and said, "um, Sophie isn't here yet, so there's one."

The man nodded and read over the list again. "Alright, the twenty-fifth person isn't coming because I wrote her name on the list, so that should be everyone."

Before anyone could ask what he meant, a voice echoed throughout the gym. "I'm so sorry!" Everyone turned to the source of the voice to see a visibly stressed Sophie running in, breathing heavily. She stopped next to Ophelia and knelt down to catch her breath, hands on her knees. "I'm sorry, I got held up."

"It's quite alright," the man said with a chuckle. "Now, don't you need to change?"

Sophie raised an eyebrow to question it, but then saw everyone else dressed in gym clothes and gasped. "Right! Omigosh, I totally forgot!"

Everyone shared a laugh and moments later, when Sophie had rejoined Ophelia's side, the man started speaking in an authoritative voice. "Alright everybody, you're here to be a part of the cheer squad of our beloved school." He paused to allow the interruption of a rowdy boy screaming the school's slogan. "Now, I know some of you are doing this merely to skirt the P.E. credit, but let me be perfectly clear here: this is going to be _so much_ harder than P.E., so if that's your motivation, you might as well leave now." He paused once more, looking through the crowd to gauge reactions and possibly to allow stragglers to leave. A long moment passed, during which he seemed to get violently conscious of the many eyes on him, and he turned away with a reddening face. "I see disbelief in a few faces. Well I'll prove you wrong in due time. _If_ you make it. Now! What, my friends, is the most important thing to know about cheerleading?"

A mumble went through the crowd, but Ophelia knew the answer immediately, bouncing a bit and thrusting her hand into the air. "Cheerleading is a sport!"

The man smiled and clapped his hands once. "Good job! That is the singular most important thing to remember. People will scoff at you, and if you're a man, people will tease you, but pay them no mind. Cheerleading is just as taxing, if not moreso, than almost any major sport you can name. Here, you're doing more than standing around raising your arms and looking pretty. We have routines, exercises, running, tumbling, lifting and almost any other physical strain you can imagine. This will not be a cakewalk, and some of you will shed blood in this gym that you would not in regular Physical Education. Just a fair warning. Now, you all head into the locker rooms and wait for your name to be called. We'll start with individual tryouts. Break!"

A moment passed during which nobody moved and the man sighed. "That means disperse. Go away. ...Stop staring at me and go!"

For Ophelia, the next long while was spent getting to know her prospective fellow cheerleaders. She didn't remember every name for very long, but she remembered the ones that would end up mattering. A couple of the girls were familiar, and having Sophie to distract from lulls in conversations was nice, so it wasn't an unpleasant experience. She took one opportunity to listen to a couple of girls gossip about the boys who were trying out. One of them was wondering why they were going out for what was generally considered a girl's activity. Ophelia entered the conversation with her hand held up dramatically. "Hey, my father was the best cheerleader in his school, so I know better than anyone that guys can do cheerleading," she bragged.

"What would they be doing?" One of the girls asked.

"Each other, with any luck," the other one snickered.

Disregarding the skeevy statement, Ophelia lulled her head to the side, trying to remember the stories from her father. "Guys do the routines too, and they'll likely end up being the bottom of the pyramid whenever we do those."

Sophie shivered. "But...but wouldn't they take that opportunity to look up our skirts?"

A resounding "ew" sounded through the crowd and Ophelia shook her head. "Not if they're real cheerleaders they won't."

"How do we know they won't?" The perverted girl from earlier asked, brushing a pigtail over her shoulder.

"We'll just have to trust their senses of honor," Ophelia said plainly.

"If they get in," one of the girls added. "The first one might because he's so enthusiastic literally all the time, but have you seen the other guy? He's so scared of everything. How's he gonna hold us up if he's scared of dropping us?"

The girl with the pigtails nodded confidently. "Yep, that's Ignatius. He's such a wimp."

"How do you know so much?" Sophie asked.

The girl flashed a knowing grin. "I make it my business to know as much about the boys as I can."

The girl she was gossiping with turned to Sophie and held a hand to the side of her mouth, feigning a whisper. "Nina's only joining so she can catch the eyes of boys."

"Am not!" Nina snapped. "I'm doing it so I can get a close-up look of all the sweaty, frantic boys." She clapped her hands together and stared into the distance dreamily for a moment before snapping back to reality with a sharp, "get it right!"

The girls all shared a laugh before a lovely voice called from the doorway. "Nina? You're up next, beautiful!"

As Nina flashed a smile at the girls and stepped away, Ophelia look to Sophie with a question. "Who was that? I don't remember a girl hanging around the coach."

Sophie shrugged. "Perhaps his daughter got here."

"He has a daughter?" Ophelia asked When Sophie nodded and pointed out that she was in the same year, she pursed her lips. "Hm, I wonder why my dad never told me his best friend had a daughter my age..."

"Who knows," Sophie said with a shrug.

Slowly but surely, the locker rooms cleared out, girls getting called away and coming back moments later to change back into their school clothes or to simply grab their things to go home. All of them were tight-lipped about what was asked of them from the cheer coach, and none of them would even share the man's name, which slowly started to make Ophelia more and more nervous. She could guess that the girls were going in order of which they signed up on the sheet, and as Ophelia's name was last (except for the name the cheer coach said he put on there), she knew this meant she would be going last. That did not help her nerves in the slightest, which was apparent when that new voice came calling for Sophie. She shot a sympathetic look at Ophelia and they exchanged well wishes once more, which left her completely alone to think about whatever might have been waiting for her in that gym.

"Limber thoughts, limber thoughts, limber thoughts. Like Bruce Lee. And father when he was my age. And how disappointed he would be if I somehow didn't make the squad, and how I'd be tainting the family name if I failed here..." She took a shaky breath and felt a bead of sweat drip down her temple. This line of thought had spiraled out of control very quickly. "Limber thoughts, Ophelia! You can do this!"

Moments later, Sophie came in, grabbed her stuff, and nodded at Ophelia. "Let's head out together, yeah?"

After sharing a nod and allowing Sophie to grab her stuff, the girls ventured out together. Ophelia's eyes were immediately drawn to the pom-poms lying in the middle of the gym, and then to the cheer coach, reclining in the bleachers and tapping at the clipboard in his hands with his pen. A few rows behind him and to the side sat a girl with long pink hair who seemed very absorbed in her phone. That must have been the daughter that had been mentioned once or twice before. Sophie walked past the pom-poms and toward the exit, waving at Ophelia as she left. Ophelia nodded back and picked up the implements, clapping them together and facing the cheer coach expectantly. Her breathing had gotten heavy in the time it took to walk out, which couldn't have been a good sign. He gave her a warm smile and set his clipboard on the bleacher beside him. "Ah yes, Ophelia. How are you this fine afternoon?"

"I'm good," she nodded. "How are you?"

"I'm doing fantastic, thanks for asking," the man said earnestly. He was giving off an aura of trustworthiness, easing Ophelia's nerves a bit, but not doing anything for her shortness of breath. "Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but you're Owain's daughter, yes?" When she nodded, he clapped his hands and leaned back again. "I knew it. You're the spitting image of his mother, you know?"

"I've been told," she responded with a smile.

The man smiled and nodded. "Alright, good to see you following your father's footsteps. If he's still the same man, he's probably painted quite the imposing picture to live up to." After she shrugged he barked a laugh and continued, "don't worry, I have a feeling you'll live up to it just fine. You may call me coach Laslow. Before we begin, I have a few questions for you." Ophelia gave him the permission he wanted and he nodded. "You're a junior, right? Why did you wait so long to sign up for cheerleading?"

Ophelia shrugged, the pom-poms ruffling slightly and her chest heaving as she did. "I just wasn't completely sure my dad's legacy was one I wanted to try to live up to," she explained. "But now I'm confident that I can do it."

"Good answer," Laslow responded, tapping one finger on his clipboard absent-mindedly. His presumable daughter looked up from her phone, gave the girl holding the pom-poms a sweet smile, and went back to tapping away in time for Laslow to continue with, "it's good to know you're not just looking for an excuse to skip a class. Now, second question, do you have a planned performing name?"

A short silence ensued after he asked the question. His daughter slowly lowered her phone and looked to him with a confused expression and Ophelia lowered the pom-poms to her side. "Um...excuse me?"

"You know, a performing name," Laslow repeated, not getting any further response. "When your father was a cheerleader, he told everyone to call him Odin Dark while he was wearing the uniform. Wasn't a great name for a cheerleader, but hey, it caught on."

"How so?" Ophelia asked.

Laslow motioned to himself and said, "it rubbed off on me, at least. Laslow's not my real name, of course, but it makes the squad take me more seriously than when I went by my real name."

"I...see," Ophelia said. After a moment's hesitation, she shook her head. "No, I don't have a performing name lined up, but now that I know I'm allowed to have one, I can think of one real quick."

"I look forward to it," Laslow said with a smile. He gingerly picked the clipboard up once more and made a shooing motion with his hand. "Now for the hard part. Get into position, I'm going to ask you to do several moves, and we'll see which ones you've got down and which ones could use some work."

Ophelia nodded and did as she was instructed. The next few minutes were spent listening to Laslow's commands and doing what he asked to the best of her ability. She was still short on breath, and would need a moment to recover after every move she performed. After the third or fourth, Laslow wrote a note longer than the ones he had before, which didn't help matters. Ophelia put a hand to her head, realizing she had a headache and that her energy was too low to be doing this kind of physical activity.

She was really starting to wish she had eaten breakfast.

After a couple more tricks, Laslow raised his hand and set his clipboard to the side. "Alright, that's good, Ophelia." She dropped the pom-poms and nodded, exhausted from the workout. Laslow stood from his spot on the bleachers and hopped down, joining her side with his hands up, as if ready to catch her if she fell. "You alright, there? You seem tuckered out."

"I'm fine," Ophelia panted.

Laslow remained unconvinced, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "You sure? If this is enough to wear you out, that will severely affect my decision."

Ophelia sighed as she prepared herself to admit to what she was about to say. "I...didn't eat breakfast this morning. And then I didn't eat much of my lunch."

After a moment, Laslow burst into laughter and stepped back to collect himself. "I see, well don't let that happen on a practice day again, you hear me?"

Ophelia's eyes lit up and she shot back with, "so I'm in?" Another round of laughter from Laslow ended with an enthusiastic confirmation, and Ophelia pumped her fist into the air, suddenly forgetting all about her exhaustion. "Alright! I promise, coach Laslow. I'll be the best cheerleader you've ever seen, after my dad!"

Laslow nodded proudly. "That's what I like to hear, Ophelia."

Ophelia smirked and held a hand in front of her face dramatically. "Please, call me Ophelia Dusk!"

They shared a laugh, during which Laslow slapped a hand on Ophelia's shoulder. "Good to hear. Now just wait for your official acceptance letter in the next few days, that will tell you what you need to do."

"Right," Ophelia nodded.

The girl who had been sitting in the bleachers stood and stretched, making a sound that was not unlike a porn star's fake moan as she did. The noise caused Ophelia to shrink back in confusion and Laslow to sigh. "Daddy, can we go now?" The girl asked once she had resumed a normal position, which had her hands on her hips and her weight shifted to one side. "We've been here for what feels like _hours_ now. I love cute girls as much as the next gal, but it's time to head home."

Laslow shook his head and muttered something about a drama queen before turning back to his daughter and making his way to the bleachers. "We've only been here an hour, my dear."

"An hour, hours, close enough," the girl said as she bounced down the bleachers. She picked up the clipboard on the way down and met her father at the bottom.

"Fine, fine, we can go," Laslow said once his clipboard was back in his hands. "Good day, Ophelia. Tell your father to text me once in a while. Call him a nerd while you're at it, too."

The girl shot finger pistols at Ophelia and winked as she followed behind her father. "Catch you later, cutie."

Ophelia made a confused face at the girl, not saying anything while they walked away. She shrugged off the...advance? Compliment? She didn't even know what to call it. Regardless, she shrugged it off and headed back into the locker room to change. After she texted her father to tell him to come get her, she set her phone down and took the time alone to change back into her normal clothes. She discarded her shirt and sat on a bench, letting the cool air hit her sweaty skin, sighing contentedly. "I really should've eaten this morning," she muttered to herself in a defeated voice. After a moment of rest, she continued getting dressed, switching from the gym shorts to the skirt she had worn that day just in time to receive the text that her father was waiting for her in the parking lot.

Ophelia hadn't even completely opened the passenger door when he bounced in the driver's seat and asked, "so how'd it go?" Ophelia wordlessly gave a thumb's up, to which Owain responded by taking her in the best hug he could from where he sat. "I'm so proud of you, my daughter!"

"I know, I'm so excited!" She responded, attempting to wrap her arms around her father.

The questions didn't end there. Once they had separated and Ophelia had put a seatbelt on, Owain continued questioning her as he put distance between themselves and the school. "What was Ini—coach Laslow like?"

With a snicker, Ophelia said, "he told me to tell you to text him again."

Owain rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Of course he did. I guess I can do that."

Before he could continue, Ophelia decided she had a question or two for her father. "So why didn't I meet him before? Isn't he like, your best friend?"

"You have met him," he said quickly. "But you were a baby and don't remember."

"So it doesn't count," Ophelia countered, which elicited a laugh from her dad.

"Right, right. Yeah, we don't talk much anymore because we kinda drifted apart, and now we're too busy to get together like we used to."

"Sad," Ophelia said, shaking her head. "He seems nice, though."

A nod accompanied Owain's looking around to check the roads. "He's straightened up his act quite a bit since he got himself a girl to call his own. He'll be a good coach, too. His mother was a dancer, and he followed in her footsteps, which lead us to being on the same squad. I guess you can say it runs in his family almost as much as it runs in ours."

Ophelia giggled and shot a bright-eyed look to her father. "He was never as good as you were though, right dad?"

"Absolutely! None could best Odin Dark on the field!"

Without missing a beat, Ophelia shot back with, "and none will be able to best Ophelia Dusk when she makes her debut!"

Hearing a grown man squeal from being unable to contain his excitement wasn't something Ophelia was expecting to get out of the day, but that's exactly what happened after she finished her sentence. "Oh my gods, you've already come up with a stage name! I'm so excited!"

Ophelia couldn't possibly fight her smile, and her face started heating up as she modestly scratched at her cheek. "It wasn't that hard. Once coach Laslow told me your stage name, making my own was simple."

Owain could have gone on for days about how happy he was, but instead, he opted to move the conversation forward. "So when do you start?"

Ophelia shrugged and leaned back in her seat. "I don't know yet. Coach Laslow said I'd be told in the next few days."

The answer was sufficient, and Owain shifted gears back to praising his daughter, which luckily didn't last long, since they were almost home. After giving her father another hug, Ophelia retired to her room to do her work for the night and reflect on her success that day.

Not once did the thought that Laslow accepted her because of who her dad was cross her mind, because she was so proud of her performance that she had no doubt in her mind that she made it in because of her own (albeit impaired) performance. Instead, she focused on the hopes that being a part of Nohr High School's cheer squad would lead to the best experiences of her life.

At lunch the next day, Ophelia was once again approached by Sophie, who took a seat without hesitation. "Hey Sophie," Ophelia greeted. "So, did you make it in?"

Sophie shrugged. "I don't think the coach told anyone whether they got in or not. From what I can tell, he didn't tell anyone anything."

He hadn't? What made him tell Ophelia that she was in right away? Whatever it was, Ophelia felt like sharing that she had been told up front was a bad idea, so she made something up. "Oh, I see. I, er, wasn't told either, so I was scared I hadn't made it."

Sophie nodded understanding, not questioning her tone for a second. "Don't you worry, all of us are just as in the dark as you are."

"I see," Ophelia said with a nod. Now, the doubts were starting to enter her mind. What made her so special that she got to know right away? She wasn't even performing at her peak abilities, so what made her the apparent one and only person to know ahead of time that she was on the squad? The more time passed, the more she convinced herself that she was accepted due to her father's influence and not her own merits. This got so bad that, when the day came to watch Laslow weave through the lunch room delivering letters to several girls (and one guy), she attempted to reject her letter outright.

When she told him she didn't want the letter, Laslow's smile disappeared. "Excuse me? Don't tell me you've had a change of heart now."

It was fortunate that nobody else was around, because if they were, Ophelia would have given something away that probably would have gotten Laslow yelled at by the other girls on the squad when she said, "you only accepted me because you know my father, didn't you?"

Laslow shook his head and pushed the envelope closer to Ophelia. "I promise you that you're a member of the squad because of your own merits."

"Then why did you tell me immediately?" Ophelia crossed her arms and continued to refuse the letter, which sat awkwardly in Laslow's hand. "There can't be any other explanation for that."

Laslow smiled and said, "here's a simple one: I know your father personally." When Ophelia only tilted her head in confusion, he continued. "I knew that if I didn't tell you right away, he'd badger you incessantly for any news, so I decided to spare you that inconvenience." That was when Ophelia understood what he was saying. Of course, if she hadn't known right away, her father would have lost his mind! He would have worked himself into an anxious fervor stronger than any she could muster, and by telling her right away, Laslow saved everyone from having to see that. She giggled at the sight of her dad anxiously asking over and over for any news, but Laslow continued staring at her, letter held out. "So do you still want in or are you going to take advantage of my kindness?"

"O-oh, right. Sorry for doubting you coach," she said as she took the letter from him, leaving his hands empty at last.

"No problem," he assured her. "See you on Friday."

As he left, Ophelia inspected the envelope containing her acceptance letter. The front simply held her name written in fancy cursive, with a flower drawn in the O. The back was sealed with, strangely, a red wax seal that had the image of a flower in the center. What a strange and over-dramatic way to seal a letter about high school cheerleading, she thought.

Little did she know it was perfectly fitting for Laslow.

As a stark contrast to the ornate outside, the letter on the inside was obviously the same acceptance letter all the girls got, with formal language and impersonal congratulations to the recipient and instructions to gather in the gym after school on Friday for the first practice and to have sizing information ready to make getting uniforms easier. Now that her fears of favoritism were eased, she could face the rest of the week without self doubt nagging at the back of her mind. Instead, she shifted her focus to the first day of practice, which came a lot slower than she would have liked.


	2. The Rules of Cheerleading

After a long day (during which Ophelia did actually eat as she was supposed to), the newly formed cheer squad was standing in front of Laslow in their gym clothes in an almost exact repeat of the tryouts, except their numbers were fewer. Laslow delivered another speech with his hands behind his back. "The fact that you're here means you weren't scared of my warnings of cheerleading being very difficult, and that's good! I do want to warn you again that I was not over-exaggerating. Please do keep in mind that going out for cheerleading means putting your body on the line. I don't want to scare you too much with that though, so let's move on to my next point. This is a point I do want to drill into your heads as best I can. I will not be satisfied unless you leave this school year living, breathing, and dying for this fact: Cheerleading _is_ a sport. Don't you ever let anyone tell you otherwise, alright?" The squad nodded at him simultaneously and he smiled. "Good. That was rule number one."

The sole boy in the squad raised his hand and asked, "what's rule number 2, coach?"

Shifting his weight to one foot and placing his hands on his hips, Laslow said, "thanks for asking, Percy, but I was going to get to that without you helping increase the time we spend here. Rule number two is one that has been passed down in my mother's family for generations. Keep in mind that this is a very difficult sport and you will get hurt."

"I thought you said you didn't want to scare us too much with that," one of the girls asked, causing Laslow to throw his head back in frustration.

He snapped at the girl, albeit with a smile. "Yes, I know! I'm reiterating to justify rule number two! Remember, you will get hurt, and it won't all be fun and games here. However, no matter what happens, you must remember to smile." The squad exchanged looks of confusion. "I thought I'd get that reaction. See, smiling makes everything better. I've learned to smile even if you're not okay, and that can do a lot more than you expect. Even fake smiles can lift the spirit and turn themselves into real smiles. So rule number two is to always smile, even when it's difficult. Do you understand?"

Everyone nodded understanding. Ophelia and Sophie looked between each other and shrugged. Neither of them were expecting to be completely dumbfounded by their cheer coach this quickly. He continued with the plan of attack for the first cheer practice of the year, which started with a wordless motion to a table with a piece of paper sitting on it. "Now, one at a time, everyone will write their names and their sizes so I can order your uniforms. I know it would be awkward to give that information to a grown man you barely know, and that's why the paper's there. After that, you will spend the next hour getting to know each other. That's it. That's practice for the day. Once I saw so, everyone can go home."

"Excuse me sir," Sophie interjected. "But why is that practice? I know we don't have our uniforms, but that doesn't mean we can't practice."

"That is very true," Laslow admitted. "However, a key component of cheerleading is trust, and you have to get to know your squad mates before you can fully trust them. This will be one of—if not the most important practice of the year. Now get to it! I'll be in the bleachers if you have any questions." He clapped his hands together and made his way to the stands, where a hefty pile of paperwork was waiting for him.

As soon as the coach was buried in his work, the squad dispersed. Everyone was quick to fill out what they needed to on the paper and go back to socializing. Ophelia did her rounds and met everyone, but quickly found herself in a group with a specific three people. Sophie, of course, stuck by her side since they had known each other beforehand. Nina, the girl Ophelia remembered hearing skeevy comments from also stuck around them, thanks in part to the fourth member of their group. As the only male cheerleader who made it into the squad, Percy was the center of attention for a while, the swarm of girls curious as to his intentions. He was quick to explain that he was so overflowing with school spirit that cheerleading was the only sport he felt would properly reflect that. After promising everyone that he wasn't a pervert, he stuck around near Ophelia, Sophie and Nina for some reason. "I think you three seem cool," he explained plainly.

The hour passed faster than any other in the day, which became the standard for cheer practice that year, and the group of four she found herself in eventually turned out to consist of some very close friends. After every practice, Ophelia would pile into her father's car and share with him her experience for the day. Usually, it was stories of the routines she was learning, and sometimes it would be an account of missing a stunt and scraping herself somewhere. One day, she shared a particularly amusing story of Laslow and Nina getting into a very heated debate over what kind of man is more attractive. Despite the fun times she was having, Ophelia was also being pushed harder than he had been in her life up to that point. The work outs, the routines, and the exercises were tough, but once she had them down, she felt a sense of accomplishment she couldn't quite match by getting good grades or completing her personal goals.

And then there were the games.

The sports games, which were how the cheerleaders got recognition, were more of a burden than a duty to Ophelia. She liked performing for the crowd in between periods or quarters, but while the game was actually being played, the squad was relegated to sitting quite literally on the sidelines, pom-poms together on the ground and feigning interest in whatever was happening. There were two saving graces to this: watching Nina get flustered at the sweaty men touching each other (which, for Ophelia, was a gross sentence to even _think_ ), and watching the boys get distracted by the short skirts and low-cut shirts to the point of messing up a play or running into another player on accident. The second bit was so amusing that sometimes Ophelia and Sophie would make it a game to see how many players each one could distract by making faces.

One game that went particularly late into the night was exciting to watch, but the fact that it wore on so long balanced it out, leading to a tired and slightly irritable cheer squad. Near the end of the game, Ophelia excused herself for the restroom, and bumped into a vaguely familiar girl on the way out. The slightly startled girl brushed a strand of pink hair from her face and smiled when Ophelia apologized. "Hey, it's alright," she said happily. "So long as you take me out to dinner to make up for it."

Completely dumbfounded, Ophelia stuttered, trying to find a response, but none came. When the girl laughed a sweet laugh, she shook her head and got her wits about her. "Excuse me? Are you just hanging out outside the gym and waiting for people to bump into you so you can ask them out?"

"Tch, of course not, that was just me being a smooth operator." To illustrate her point, the girl crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. Of course, her shoulder slipped and she stumbled forward, immediately disproving her claim. Ophelia caught her and helped her back into a standing position, which earned her a look of adoration. "Um...wow, sorry. I'm just astounded by how beautiful you are."

Ophelia blushed despite herself and quickly let go of the girl's arm. "Er, thanks, but I really need to go."

She started towards the restroom, but the girl frantically cried, "wait!" When she had Ophelia's attention, the girl offered her hand. "I should introduce myself. Name's Soleil."

Ophelia took her hand and shook it, nodding. "Ophelia. Hey, where have I seen you before?" This question made her temporarily forget that her bladder felt a little bit like bursting.

"Probably, I'm Ini—coach Laslow's daughter," Soleil explained. "You've seen me around, I'm sure. And man, I wish I had seen _you_ around."

"Er, thanks," Ophelia said. "Maybe I'll catch you later." With that, she scurried off into the restroom. Moments later, she emerged with a sigh, the sight waiting for her in front of the gymnasium doors the same sight she had just left behind. Soleil stood there pretending to be interested in the papers on the wall with her hands behind her back. "Soleil?" The girl jumped and turned back to Ophelia with a smile. "Were you waiting for me, or are you actually waiting for people to run into you so you can ask them out?"

Soleil smiled and shook her head. "No, I was waiting for you. See, I'd actually like to go out with you. Maybe we could grab a cup of coffee or something? I know quite a few good places we could go."

Ophelia forced an awkward smile. "Sorry, Soleil, but I don't actually know you well enough to go out with you. It's flattering that you think I'm so pretty though."

Soleil somehow managed to keep a smile while her face noticeably fell, but nodded understanding. "Right, I getcha. Maybe another time?"

"Maybe," Ophelia said dismissively, moving past Soleil and into the gym. "I need to get back to my squad now."

"Later!" Soleil called. The two split paths, Soleil rejoining her father in the stands and Ophelia sitting next to Sophie and asking what she missed, ready to forget this interaction entirely.

Strangely, that one incident was the start of many, as the very next school day, Ophelia looked up from her lunch to see Soleil standing next to her table expectantly. She asked, "may I take a seat?"

Ophelia shrugged wordlessly, which she knew Soleil would take as a yes. As she watched the other girl take her seat, she said, "so what brings you here?"

"I wanted to get to know you," Soleil said plainly. "You seem nice."

Ophelia smiled. So this girl could say something without being flirty. "Okay then."

What she was expecting to be a talk with the other girl about interests and whatnot turned into a very long lunch of Soleil checking girls out and talking about how attractive they all were, which got real old real fast. This became a normal affair, Sophie joining most days to relieve Ophelia of having to listen to Soleil hitting on women endlessly. On top of that, sometimes Soleil would saunter into cheer practice (never making it in until after the "cheerleading is a sport" reminder) to watch the proceedings. She would always complain about staying at school so long after it ended, but she would always shoot suggestive glances at the girls, so the reason she came wasn't exactly a mystery. This continued for months, with quickly forgotten attempts to befriend Ophelia sprinkled in every once in a while. It wasn't particularly annoying or unwelcome, but the fact that she would so quickly forget what she was trying to accomplish would get on Ophelia's nerves. It became apparent to her that she wasn't asked out because of anything other than her looks. However, they did have the occasional interesting conversation every once in a while.

One day, as they were walking through the halls together, they passed several members of the basketball team wearing their jerseys, as they were asked to do on school days that had games take place after hours. Soleil elbowed Ophelia and asked her if she was ready to cheer that evening, to which she responded by laughing and flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Of course, I'm always ready to perform!"

"Cool, that's cool," Soleil responded. "So hey Ophelia, I have a question for you."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"Why doesn't the school allow the cheerleaders to wear their uniforms on game days like the other guys? You girls—and Percy—will have something to do after school too." Soleil tilted her head at the mention of the sole male cheerleader, as if mentioning him was a chore.

Ophelia shrugged. "I couldn't tell you. Maybe it's because our outfits are so skimpy, it would distract perverts like you," she playfully snapped at Soleil, staring her down in faux anger.

Soleil barked a laugh and scratched the back of her head. "Heh, I guess you have a point. I know I'd get distracted by the...special detail about game days."

"Special detail?" Ophelia asked. The tone with which Soleil said those words was worrying. "I don't know what you mean."

Soleil winked and flashed her a cheesy grin. "Of course you don't," she said sarcastically. "Ah, good move." She headed off to class wearing that grin, leaving Ophelia to wonder what the hell she meant.

These strange instances only multiplied as the school year went on, but Ophelia was starting to warm up to Soleil, if only a little bit. Maybe it was because she was the coach's daughter, or maybe it was because she felt obligated to parallel a friendship she knew her father had been experiencing when he was her age. Whatever it was, it never became quite enough to accept Soleil's requests for a date. She remained undeterred though, which was charming, if a little annoying.

And then the second semester snuck up on the squad. Just as fast as Soleil had started attending practice as an observer, she stopped showing up entirely a month or so into the semester. This wasn't mysterious or worrying, as Laslow explained it succinctly as soon as someone brought it up. "She's stopped attending practice, because we need to be without distractions for the next two months."

"Two months?" Ophelia asked. "What's happening in two months?"

Laslow looked to the male cheerleader with an expectant gaze. "I'll let Percy explain it, since he seems fired up about it."

Before he could even finish his sentence, Percy jumped forward. "The cheer competition! The one we've haven't won for the last ten years!"

"Precisely," Laslow said. "We need to bring our A game to the competition, so all distractions are gone from practice until we've gone to the competition."

"Why's it so important?" One of the freshmen asked.

Percy was happy to jump in with an explanation. "Because our biggest rival, Hoshido High, has always been the team to knock us out of the competition. We can't stand for insults like that anymore."

Laslow agreed once more and clapped his hands together. "That said, everyone, let's get to work. And remember:"

The next part was said by everyone in the gym at once. "Cheerleading is a sport!"

The stakes were high, and practice became intense, with more focus, more injuries, and less of one particular member. Unfortunately, one of the members of the squad was a senior, and that meant the spring semester brought many days that she couldn't attend practice due to other commitments. Percy bemoaned this, claiming her absence would be the final factor determining their loss at the quickly approaching competition. "Don't think like that," Laslow would always assure him. "Remember to smile!"

Sure, it was easy to keep the smile up at practice, but going home meant the stress of homework and the uncertainty of the very important competition fast approaching. The night before, Ophelia locked herself in her room, sitting on her bed and mentally going over the routines they were going to perform in mere hours. Her thoughts were interrupted by the loud knocking at her door. "Ophelia, my sweet, may I come in?"

"You're welcome to, father," she called.

The door slid open and he stepped in, one hand behind his back and a warm smile on his face. "So, the competition's tomorrow, right?" Ophelia nodded as he sat on the bed next to her, still hiding one hand from her. "You nervous?" The answer to that came in the form of a pointed look that made him laugh. "I thought so. That is why I'm in here, after all."

"Any advice?" She asked, turning to face him properly. "I mean, you won all your cheer competitions, right?"

Owain laughed, his smile looking forced. "About that..."

His daughter gasped and covered her mouth. "You didn't? You only won one or two?" Another shake of his head almost made her faint. "What are you saying?"

"Our cheer squad...never won a comp, Ophelia," Owain admitted sheepishly.

"Why not?" She demanded.

"See, Inigo and I didn't always get along," Owain explained. When he was met with a blank stare, he laughed. "Sorry, coach Laslow and I wouldn't agree on how every routine was meant to go, and since our team wasn't perfectly in sync, we could never make it to the top."

"Oh gods, so the pressure's really on..." Ophelia fell backwards onto her bed and stared at the ceiling, feeling a little bit like crying. How could she win such an important event when her father couldn't even do it?

"Oh no, that's not what I was trying to do!" Owain scrambled to save his point, grabbing Ophelia's wrist and pulling her back into a sitting position. "I came here to help you out!" When asked how, he rolled up his sleeve and pointed at the mark on his skin. "Remember our birthmark?" Ophelia nodded and shifted her own shoulder towards her father. Her current tank top didn't have any sleeves to roll up, so it was easily visible. "Right, have I ever told you that our mark is the mark of champions?"

Ophelia nodded. "Yeah, your uncle has it, your cousin has it, and we have it."

"Very good," Owain confirmed with a nod. "And you also remember that your grandmother did not have such a mark?" Another nod from his daughter. "Well, she wanted to be blessed with the power of our family, so she had this fashioned." He held out the hand that was behind his back and opened it to reveal a necklace, bearing a silver charm in the shape of the mark on their shoulders. "Wear this to your competition, and you'll have double the strength you have now."

Ophelia took the charm and inspected it closely. "It's beautiful...are you sure you want me to have it?"

Owain gave his daughter a thumb's up. "Absolutely. My mother gave it to me when I was ready, and now it's time for me to pass it on to you." He placed a hand on Ophelia's cheek and looked closely at her face. "You remind me more of your grandmother every day. And now it's time to go and make us proud."

"But what if we lose again?" Ophelia asked. "Apparently Hoshido High is really good."

Owain shook his head quickly. "No, Ophelia. You will make us proud no matter how well you do. As long as you give it your all."

Now Ophelia really was crying. "Thank you, father!" She cried, throwing herself into his arms. They embraced for a moment before Owain asked her a very serious question.

"Now, what's your ultimate move named?"

"Oh right!" Ophelia pulled back and held a hand in front of her face like her father liked to do so much. "My ultimate move has affectionately been called Odin Dark's Triple Back Handspring Supreme!"

Owain nodded sagely, absorbing the name. "Good good, but it could use some work."

"Next year, I'll have an even better one," she promised without missing a beat.

"That's my daughter!" With a laugh, Owain took a stand and made his way to the bedroom door. "You'll do great tomorrow. I wish I could come to watch, but alas, work beckons. You know I'll be there in spirit, of course."

"Of course," Ophelia confirmed. Once she was alone again, she gazed at the charm with renewed confidence. She could do this. She was all ready for the competition tomorrow, and there was nothing at all she was forgetting.

That is, there wasn't until moments later when she realized she was forgetting something very important. "I need to shower! I can't be all stinky!" After rushing to the bathroom with a change of clothes in hand, she took a deep breath and got ready for a nice, relaxing shower.

Of course, being as single-minded as she was, she spent the shower practicing the routine, miming the arm movements she would have to make the next day. Of course, it wasn't as easy, considering the lack of a certain type of support while in the shower, but she figured doing the routine while dealing with her breasts bouncing uncomfortably would help her be more proficient when she didn't have to deal with that. Watching the warm water splash at the walls around her was almost as fun as actually doing the movements, but something she failed to take into consideration was soon biting her in the ass.

Or, more specifically, her hand, as one particularly grandiose movement lead to her smacking her hand against the tile wall. She recoiled in pain, squealing a bit. After making sure it didn't bruise, she shook her head at herself, deciding to wrap up her shower without any further silliness. Once she was out and all wrapped up in the necessary towels, she decided to check her phone, which of course she had brought with her. Nestled in between a few unimportant notifications from mobile games was a text message from one of her few friends from off the squad. Inside was a short, sweet good luck wish from Soleil, complete with a heart emoticon and a flower emoji.

She tapped out a thanks and set her phone aside to get herself dressed (she elected not to share the fact that she was naked for obvious reasons). She hadn't even reached for her clothes before her phone vibrated, receiving another text. This one was a follow-up from Soleil, providing additional encouragement. Ophelia nodded at the phone, impressed at how quickly she'd gotten a reply. When she pointed that out, Soleil responded again immediately with, "yeah, my fast fingers are a thing of wonder," punctuated with a winking face.

"Oh my gods," Ophelia laughed, blushing and stashing her phone until she was fully dressed again.

The next day dawned, the early morning sunrise seeing a nervous but excited cheer squad piling into a van just outside Nohr High School. One bright side to this competition was that it got them out of school for the day, and nobody was complaining about that. As they settled in, Laslow stood outside the van, tapping his foot impatiently.

"What're we waiting for?" Nina asked, looking around the parking lot littered with cars.

"My daughter." Laslow muttered the words as if saying them would make her magically appear, but he had no such luck.

This answer confused everyone in the van. As they looked between each other, Sophie asked, "wait, what? She's not on the squad."

Laslow didn't answer, but Soleil was happy to when she finally appeared and hopped into the van. "I get to go because I'm daddy's little angel," she bragged. "And I couldn't pass up missing school to see a bunch of pretty girls surrounding me."

The van lurched off, headed for the destination: an amusement park that sat in the small town nestled at the halfway point between Nohr and Hoshido's schools, which had apparently been the site of the competition ever since its inception so many years ago. When they finally made it into the town that housed the park, Laslow motioned toward the windshield. "New cheerleaders, say hello to the small town of Valla. You'll pretty much only ever come here for the amusement park, but it's a nice place to look at as we pass through, I suppose."

The girls who had been to the park before nodded agreement while the ones that hadn't examined their new surroundings curiously. The only other guy in the car after the coach did neither of those things, staring into space intently. "Er, Percy?" Ophelia asked. "You okay?"

Percy nodded. "I'm fine, I'm just psyching myself up. I'm gonna need all the luck I can get today."

Ophelia scoffed and put a hand on his shoulder. "Oh, please. This isn't about luck, it's about pure skill!"

"It's a little bit of luck," Percy insisted.

Disagreeing but not wishing to push the subject, Ophelia shrugged and left him to his own thoughts. Moments later, the van was pulling into the parking lot and the girls (and Percy) were piling out. As soon as they were back on their feet, Soleil approached Ophelia. "So, is that new?" She asked, reaching for Ophelia's necklace.

As she took a hold of it and leaned in to get a better look at it, Ophelia nodded. "New for me, yeah. It's a charm from my family that awakens my inner skill."

"Cool," Soleil nodded. "You won't need it." After receiving a questioning look, she smiled cheekily. "All you need to awaken your skill is a smooch from Soleil!"

Ophelia's unamused response was simple. "Okay, you can let go of the necklace now."

Soleil did, but before she could move her hand back to her side, Ophelia did it for her. "What? I wasn't gonna steal it."

"Stealing wasn't what I was worried about," Ophelia said. Soleil understood what she meant when she motioned at her chest area.

"What? You insult me. As if I would do that without express permission." She feigned anger by crossing her arms.

Ophelia shrugged. "Better safe than sorry."

Before Soleil could respond, Laslow interjected in his coach voice. "Alright girls and Percy, go crazy, but be sure to meet at the front gates at one thirty exactly. Break!"

So the Nohr squad scattered, Soleil, Ophelia, Nina, Sophie and Percy sticking together, mostly so they could remind each other to stay on time. The nerves were getting to all of them (except Soleil), but that didn't stop them from enjoying the time they had to ride some rides and grab a snack or two. Along the way, Percy decided he was going to try playing a few of the parlor games sitting in the middle of the park, despite everyone insisting they were all rigged. He tried out four of the games, and walked away with four grand prizes, causing his companions jaws to all drop. "Heh, guess I'm just really good, huh?"

"How the hell are we gonna get all this back?" Nina asked, holding the giant yellow cartoon character he had won at his first stop. He shrugged, adjusting the yellow and blue cyclops he had won at the final venue.

"Gods, share some of that luck, will ya?" Sophie asked. "I wouldn't be able to win one of those to save my life."

Soleil laughed in agreement. "Yeah, one time I lost one of those crane games that say you win every time."

"You must be a descendant of some legendary hero," Ophelia suggested. "It's the only explanation."

Percy smiled. "Well, yeah, I am. My pops is the most legendary of them all to me."

The response he got was a resounding, "awww!"

Unfortunately, the entire day wasn't fun and games. Soon after Percy's winning streak, the group of five ran into trouble in the form of four girls and a guy sporting a red cheer uniform. Percy's spirits dropped at the sight of them, and they happened to see the group as well.

The lone boy in that group held his hands behind his head and stepped forward with a smug grin. "Well, well, well, if it isn't NHS sqaud."

The girl at his side with flowing red hair giggled and evaluated the group. "Yep, you look new to the squad."

The pink-haired girl at his side looked them over with stars in her eyes—oh wait, those were her actual eyes. "Opposing cheer squad. They look like complete losers. We've first place for sure."

The orange-haired boy looked off into the distance, as if counting something and then nodded at the girl. He held his hands in front of him and snapped a few times, and the girls in the group followed suit as if they were at a poetry jam and not an amusement park.

"Big talk for such a small girl," Percy snapped. "What's your position on the team? Stepping stone?"

The blonde girl in the group, who was definitely taller than Percy, stepped forward, a playful smile on her lips, but venom in her voice when she said, "She's a higher rank than you are, I'm sure. It's not hard to be higher than the bottom of the pyramid." As she said this, her hand played with the highlight in her hair.

This was when Soleil stepped in, hands up in a conciliatory gesture. "Now now, save it for the comp, okay, ladies? And Percy."

"Why aren't you in uniform?" The redhead asked in a condescending tone. "Are you too sick to compete?"

"Not part of the squad, thank you very much," Soleil explained. "Step off."

After the squad shared a laugh, a girl with green hair spoke up for the first time. "Maybe she's right, guys. Don't wanna get all riled up before the competition and end up messing up."

"Good point, Midori," the boy said. "We should leave the Nohrian scum alone."

"Come on, you only agree with her because she's your cousin," the redhead scoffed. "But yeah, let's not waste our energy on them."

"Good idea, for both sides," Soleil said. "Don't waste your energy on them. They just want to distract you."

"Yeah, you're right," Nina nodded. "That boy wasn't even that cute. Like, seriously? Orange hair?"

The fragment of the squad did their best to have fun, despite the unpleasant encounter, and they did pretty well, all things considered. When the afternoon came, though, it was time to get serious. Soleil wished them all luck and disappeared back into the park to ride another roller coaster or two, and Laslow greeted them with a smile. After the entire squad had their pre-show huddle and reaffirmed that cheerleading was, in fact, a sport, they got to work.

The competition wore on, the entire multitude of schools that attended showing off their best routines and maneuvers with exciting, upbeat soundtracks and loud proclamations of school spirit. Nohr and Hoshido, as per the usual, quickly ascended the ranks, surprising no one.

Then came the final performance. Hoshido got to perform first, doing a slower paced cheer set to a melancholy soundtrack obviously influenced by Japanese culture. Percy watched the performance with hate in his eyes—but a smile on his face, as per Laslow's rule.

When it was time for Nohr to step up to the stage, every feeling, both negative and positive, came rushing to Ophelia all at once. It was so overwhelming looking out at the crowd that it came full circle, and she felt nothing. The only thing that was real to her at that time was their routine, and how they had to execute it perfectly. All was going well, until the senior on the squad took a misstep. She stepped early by only a moment, but surely it was enough to catch a judge's eyes. Ophelia didn't think too much about it, because she was focused solely on her own performance, feeling the mark on her shoulder growing heavy, as if it were a weight to work under.

Then, she herself screwed up. During the grandiose final gesture, she flashed back to the shower last night, where she had slammed her hand against the tile. She flinched, her hand withdrawing and her movement slowing as if the wall was still there. She finished the routine with a wide smile and heavy breathing like everyone else around her, but on the inside, she was berating herself for making such a stupid blunder.

After the routine wrapped up, the Nohr and Hoshido squads took the stage, staring out at the crowd as the judges announced the winners. Coach Laslow and the coach of the Hosido side—a man with scruffy green hair—stood in front of their respective squads to receive the trophy on behalf of the team. Everyone on the Nohr squad had high hopes except for Ophelia, who knew for sure that she had blown it for her team. Sensing the tension in the air, Laslow turned back during the end-of-competition speech and whispered, "remember, keep smiling," to whoever could hear it. The encouragement fell on deaf ears, as the moment he finished saying the words, the huge golden trophy was presented to Hoshido's coach.

Ophelia wanted to faint on the spot.

The Hoshido squad cheered, jeered and gloated, but nothing could make the soul-crushing disappointment worse than the feeling that she had almost singlehandedly cost her squad the competition. The urge to break down into loud, ugly sobs on that stage was almost too strong to fight, but she managed to keep herself together.

At least, until she got to the van again, which is when she cried into the giant stuffed dragon Percy had won, her friends consoling her. "Hey now," the senior who had misstepped earlier said, a hand on her shoulder. "I'm the one who screwed up the approach, it's my fault."

Ophelia sniffled and shook her head. "Yeah, but we could have won despite that. I just kinda...screwed up! What will my dad think?"

From the driver's seat, Laslow spoke up at last. "Your father will be incredibly proud of you for making it to second place in your first ever cheer competition. Don't sell yourself short."

Ophelia sighed, knowing that Laslow was right but not wishing to acknowledge that. "I think I just need to be alone with my thoughts," she mumbled at last, causing everyone to back off for the rest of the car ride home. She buried her face in the stuffed animal again, thoughts racing about the day. That stupid pink-haired girl had probably already written twelve haikus about her win, but Ophelia had nothing to show for all her effort. Her worries started to ease when she felt a hand start slowly stroking her hair. The soothing, quiet gesture was probably the best thing she could have been given at that moment, but she didn't dare risk investigating for fear of ending the relaxing, intimate moment she was having with whoever it was.

Ophelia had just drifted to sleep when the van pulled up to the school. Once everyone had gotten out and grabbed their stuff, they each took turns giving Ophelia a hug, which she appreciated almost as much as the person playing with her hair earlier. When Percy pulled away from the hug, he grabbed the tear-stained stuffed dragon and handed it off to Ophelia. "Here, keep it," he said.

"What? No, I can't..."

"Hey, don't sweat it," Percy said with a smile. "I won four of these things, surely you can have one."

"Thanks," Ophelia smiled, taking the dragon and patting its head. "But I can't take it without letting you name it."

Percy put a hand to his chin and stroked it thoughtfully. "How about Ace?"

"Works for me," Ophelia nodded.

"Good," Percy replied. "See you on Monday!"

"Thanks, see ya."

Once Percy had left, Ophelia was alone, having received hugs from everyone. Now for the hardest part: facing her father and breaking the news to him. Fortunately, that didn't turn out to be very difficult at all. The moment she climbed in to the car, he looked to her with a sympathetic smile. "So, what's the damage?" He asked quietly.

Ophelia raised an eyebrow at him. "Wha...how did you know we lost?" She asked as she put her seatbelt on and tossed Ace into the back seat.

She felt grateful that her father hadn't started driving yet, because he held his hand in front of his face dramatically and put on a knowing smirk. "Your father is a master of deduction, my dear," he bragged.

A moment of silence passed. "...What?"

Finally, Owain shrugged, chuckling to himself. "It was kind of obvious, considering everyone was hugging you."

They shared a laugh as he shifted into drive and left the school's parking lot. He asked again, and Ophelia told him about the senior missing her step and then herself flinching at the end. "It was humiliating," she finished.

"Hey, don't blame yourself," Owain assured her. "Even if you did do perfectly, there's no telling whether you would have won or not. I hear Hoshido High is really good, so who knows how it would have gone."

"I guess," Ophelia admitted. "I just feel awful."

"Understood," her father nodded.

After a moment of Owain talking about driving (considering she was very close to having her permit), she changed the subject. "Hey dad, why haven't I met coach Laslow's daughter before?"

The car lurched, Owain getting caught off guard by the question. "Er, why do you ask?"

Ophelia absentmindedly fiddled with her necklace as she said, "well, you've told me all about how you and him are such good friends, but I had no idea he even had a daughter until I met her last semester. She's even my age!"

Owain sighed. "Heh, I guess you're right," he admitted. "You see, as friends grow older, they tend to, uh, drift apart, physically and mentally. We haven't talked much since the two of you were born, because life would get in the way."

Ophelia wasn't convinced. "But all these years? That's such a long time to never talk to him."

"I didn't say I never talk to him," Owain said quickly.

"Still, is there more to it than that?" Ophelia asked.

Owain feigned a knowing laugh. "Don't you worry, my dear. You will understand when you grow older."

Knowing she wouldn't get anything else out of her father, Ophelia shrugged. He quickly changed the subject by asking to hear about the amusement park and the story behind Ace, the new dragon occupying the back seat. When he heard the story of Percy winning four games in a row, he spent the next solid few minutes laughing, doing his best to stay on the road while dying of laughter. "What a guy!" He finally cried, clutching his stomach with one hand and the wheel with the other. "Why did he give the dragon to you?"

Ophelia turned back to look at the dragon, sitting on the seat limply. "Ace helped me work through my tears on the ride back to the school," she explained. "Percy felt like we bonded enough that he couldn't bear to take him from me."

Owain nodded, eyes on the road. "What a nice boy. Did anything else happen?"

Before anything else, Ophelia thanked her lucky stars that Owain hadn't pushed the Percy subject to the point that most parents like to, but she didn't dwell on it, because she had gotten to the point in the story that held the encounter with the other cheer squad. After the brief interruption of getting home and heading inside the house, Owain listened intently, nodding whenever his daughter paused to signify that she still had his attention. His first question once it was over was, "did the girl with the red hair happen to give you her name, perchance?"

Ophelia shook her head. "No, why?"

"No reason," Owain said quickly. "Regardless, I'm glad you had a good day before the competition itself. Try to remember that, okay?"

"I can try," Ophelia promised, propping Ace up on her bed.

"Good. I'll see you later, my sweet," Owain said, heading for her door. "Oh, one more thing."

"Yeah, dad?"

He put on a cheesy grin when he asked, "is this Percy boy more than just your friend, or...?"

Ophelia slammed her hand down on Ace, her face flushing immediately. "Dad! I was happy you weren't saying things like that!"

After having a laugh, Owain left her alone to her thoughts, finally allowing her to collect herself after the tumultuous day. Now, she was ready to forget all about her blunder and put the competition behind her.

Monday came, and Ophelia had no such luck. She walked the halls of the school, that one arm movement festering in the back of her mind like an unwelcome, unwashed guest. No matter how hard she tried to push it out of her thoughts, it would come back, the guilt nagging at her endlessly and ruining her entire week before it could even really begin. Finally, lunch arrived and Soleil could immediately tell that something was wrong, which she asked about at the first chance she had.

Ophelia sighed in response, her shoulders slumping forward. "I'm still thinking about how I fucked up that routine."

"What? Really?" Soleil asked. "You're still hung up on that?"

Ophelia nodded slowly. "You would be too."

Soleil smirked and held her hands behind her head. "Nah, I don't dwell on unimportant things like that."

"Unimportant?" Ophelia repeated as if she had just been insulted. "How is that unimportant?"

Soleil shrugged and said, "it's just a cheerleading competition. It's not like it's a big time sports game or something."

Ophelia straightened up and looked at Soleil incredulously. "Excuse me? A cheer competition is kind of the biggest time sports game of cheerleading."

Soleil pursed her lips, shrugging as she said, "yeah, but it's not like cheerleading's actually a sport or anything."

Ophelia didn't remember her exact thought process, but it was something along the lines of, "I'm going to punch a bitch," except with more profanity littered about. What she said was, "do you want to run that one by me again?"

"Cheerleading's not actually a sport," Soleil repeated as if she wasn't going against the one thing that Laslow said every single day.

Ophelia wanted to make good on her mental promise to punch a bitch, but instead, she placed a hand on Soleil's shoulder as gently as she could manage. "How do you get along with your father with an attitude like that?"

"I just don't say it to him," Soleil said. "But I'm pretty sure he just says that so nobody feels bad that they're taking it too seriously.

"Incredible," Ophelia muttered. "I can't believe you."

"What?" Soleil seemed oblivious to her transgression, which only made Ophelia angrier.

"Of course cheerleading's a sport!"

"Is not," Soleil insisted. "It's just girls dressing up in skimpy outfits to make the boys playing games wanna show off."

Ophelia raised an eyebrow at her companion. "Oh really? So you're saying it's easy?"

"Probably easier than any actual sport, yeah," Soleil answered.

Ophelia crossed her arms disapprovingly and shot a glare at Soleil. "Alright, you know what? If you think it's so easy, why don't you try it?"

"Wha—me?" Soleil stuttered.

Ophelia nodded. "Well, the only way you'll be convinced that cheerleading's a sport is by learning it firsthand, so you should go out for it next year."

Soleil held her hands up innocently. "No no no, I never said I could do it, just that it was easy."

"If it's so easy, you should be able to do it," Ophelia reasoned. "Unless you want to admit that it is a sport after all."

"No thank you," Soleil said quickly. "It's not a sport."

"You're not allowed to say that until you've tried it for yourself!" Ophelia snapped, losing her patience.

"Fine, maybe I will," Soleil said, sensing the hostility and wishing to make it less harsh. "Why are you so insistent on this?"

"So I can be right and you can prove yourself wrong," Ophelia said plainly. "Glad to hear that I'll have another squad mate next year."

Soleil put on a concerned look. "Hold on there, we can't just force me to join the cheer squad all willy-nilly. What's in it for me?" The conversation came to a screeching halt, Ophelia unable to think of anything she could possibly offer to make it a fair trade. When she couldn't think of anything, Soleil put on a dreadfully familiar smile and crossed her arms smugly. "Here's an idea. I'll join the cheer squad on one condition: you go on a date with me."

Ophelia gasped, suddenly remembering all the attempts Soleil had made to ask her out before. It had been months, so she figured Soleil had given up! Her first instinct was to say no, but she was so close to getting Soleil to join the cheer squad, so she sighed and held out her hand. "Shake on it."

"So is that a yes?" Soleil asked.

"Yes," Ophelia sighed again.

Soleil pumped her fist in the air and joyously shouted, "yeah! Finally, mission accomplished!"

"You better not brag about this to anyone," Ophelia warned her. "I'm only doing this to get you on the squad."

Soleil shrugged. "That works for me."

The two girls shook hands, solidifying the deal, and Ophelia left the lunch room that day hoping that she hadn't made a terrible, terrible mistake.


	3. A First Date (Or Two)

**And just as I promised, Ophelia's birthday chapter, up at as close to midnight as I can get! Happy birthday to my second favorite Fates child!**

* * *

As spring arrived in Nohr, the school year drew to a close, and Soleil went dateless. Ophelia would always insist she had to wait a little longer thanks to the busy work that came with the end of the year, and Soleil would patiently assure her understanding, never even thinking to threaten backing out of the deal. Not because she wanted to be on the cheer squad, by any means. She was just super stoked to have a date planned with Ophelia, the girl she'd been trying so hard to go out with for months.

Ophelia didn't hold up her end of the bargain until a few weeks into summer break, when Soleil's phone lit up late one night with a text. She checked it to find a proposition for the fated date. The message suggested meeting downtown at around noon the next day, and the plan of attack was simple: walking around and seeing the sights. Of course, in the cute way she did, Ophelia explained all this in a much more eloquent fashion than she needed to, but the fact that this simple plan took three texts to describe in full was charming. Soleil happily typed out her response, her face heating up as she did. When she sent the confirmation that that was A-okay, she happily skipped around her room, excited for the day that awaited her. "Oh shit," she said, suddenly stopping in her tracks during her celebration. "I should shower so I don't stink for my date!" She ran into her bathroom, practically jumped out of her clothes, and winked at herself playfully in the mirror. "Lookin' good!" Her shower was spent poorly but shamelessly singing along to songs on her phone, not really caring that her parents were both home and could probably hear her joyful ballads if they wanted to. Once she had decided she was clean enough, she turned the water off and stepped out, immediately reaching for her phone to turn the music down, as it didn't need to be so loud to be heard over the water anymore. In a moment of hopeless clumsiness, her hand missed the phone, slapping the counter top and slipping forward, which caused her to fall forward, the ground approaching rapidly. She squealed and grabbed at anything her hands could reach to save herself. She ended up grabbing her towel, which slid off the rack, not helping at all. She hit the ground, but thankfully not too hard to actually hurt. She did cause a lot of noise though, and seconds later, a knock was sounding at her door. "Soleil, are you alright?" Inigo asked through the door.

If he had opened the bathroom door, he would have seen a still soaking wet Soleil on the ground, face to the tile floor, a towel settling over her head, and her ass in the air. She quickly said, "I'm fine! Don't come in!"

Inigo didn't question the fact that Soleil's voice was muffled by both the door and a towel and shrugged, moving on. Soleil scrambled to get to her feet, hoping she could act like nothing ever happened, but one look in the mirror immediately gave away that something did, in fact, happen. Her lip had been busted open, and the blood had now moved its way down partially down her chin. It took everything she had to resist screaming, and she scrambled to grab some toilet paper to help stop the bleeding. "This is terrible! How did this happen on the night before my date? Ugh!" She stepped back and took in her whole face with the injury. She sighed and looked at her reflection remorsefully. "It's harder to notice like this, but that's probably because I'm stark naked." With another groan, she got herself dried off and dressed in her pajamas, ready to go to bed and hope that her injury would be all healed up by morning.

Those hopes were dashed when she looked in the mirror the next morning to see a gross red scab on her bottom lip. She held back tears, fighting the urge to cancel the date until the scab had healed. She stared at her phone, trying not to do just that for the longest time. Finally, the time came when she figured that if she did call to cancel, she would reach Ophelia already halfway to their meeting point, so she sighed, sucked it up, and headed out.

The downtown area was bustling with people and the sun beat down on the mostly bare shoulders of the people visiting for the day. Soleil looked around, examining the crowd and looking for the blonde head of hair that was her date. It took almost no time at all to find who she was looking for in front of the convenience store on the corner, and the sight of Ophelia brushing her hair out of her face to look down at her phone was a welcome one. Soleil had hoped that the excitement of seeing Ophelia would push the memory of hurting herself completely out of her mind, but the only effect the sight had on her was to make the scab feel about ten times bigger than it was. The anxiety was almost enough for her to turn tail and run, but she took a deep breath and repeated her father's smiling mantra to herself. Taking a deep breath and puffing her chest out confidently, she approached her date with a smile on her face and a warm greeting. Ophelia looked up from her phone and smiled at Soleil, not seeming to notice or care about the scab on her lip. "So, how do I look?" Soleil asked, motioning at her outfit, which was, by all means, so simple that the only reason she had to bring it up was to distract from her lip.

Ophelia scanned her pink tank top and matching skirt and nodded. "You look nice," she said with a nod.

It wasn't quite the praise she was hoping for, but Soleil disregarded that, because she absolutely had to return the appraisal. While she wanted to wax poetic about how Ophelia looked like a beautiful flower in a field of grass, soaking up the sun's rays and putting everyone else around them to shame, what came out was an awkward, "you...you look great yourself!"

Ophelia giggled at Soleil's stuttering and hesitation before nodding to the side. "Shall we get going, then?"

Soleil nodded enthusiastically and joined Ophelia's side as they began venturing down the street. "So what did you have planned for this wonderful day out?" She asked, hearing her father's accent start to come out slightly.

"I thought it'd be fun to just explore downtown," Ophelia answered. "So how about we grab some lunch and wander around a bit?"

"Sounds exceptional," Soleil answered. "Any ideas for where to eat?"

Ophelia sighed, looking around at the buildings surrounding them. "I...hadn't gotten that far yet," she admitted with a laugh.

"Don't fret, because I know just the place," Soleil assured her. She grabbed Ophelia's hand and pulled her along after her, weaving through the crowd and heading straight for a little coffee shop she knew. Once they got there, Ophelia looked around the inside warily. "Nice thinking, but I was more thinking something of substance for lunch. Coffee shops usually only have, like, pastries or snacks. I think."

"I understand," Soleil started. "But just you wait, the food here can be very filling. Especially when paired with the right drink."

"I guess we'll have to see," Ophelia said, taking a look at the menu. "Any suggestions?"

"More than you can imagine," Soleil assured her.

Once the girls had gotten their food and drinks, they took a seat at a raised two-person table by the window, Soleil resting her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands while Ophelia took a tentative sip of her drink. When asked how it was, she nodded and set the drink to the side. "So, come here often?" She asked, referring to Soleil's memorization of the menu.

Soleil nodded quickly after taking a sip of her own drink. "Oh yeah, this is my dad's favorite lunch date spot, so he showed it to me when I started showing interest in girls. I always try to get girls to come here if I can."

Ophelia raised an eyebrow while Soleil paused to take a bite of her snack. "How many dates have you been on with how many girls?"

Soleil flashed a pained smile. "Not as many as I'd like to say, unfortunately. How's that for an answer?"

Ophelia shook her head, saying, "okay, is this your first date?"

After sharing a laugh, Soleil shook her head as well. "No, Not my first, but uh, close." Ophelia laughed and she could feel her face start to heat up. "Okay then, how about you, if you wanna laugh about it?"

Ophelia's laugh subsided just as fast as it had come on. "Um, actually...this _would_ be my first date," she said, her face flushing red. "Ever."

Soleil blushed as she watched her date shrink back into her chair. "I...I see. Well, it's an honor to be your first," she said. After a pause during which she realized the implications of her sentence, she scrambled to correct herself. "Date! Your first...date, it's an honor...gods damn it."

Ophelia laughed, her nerves easing a bit. "I got it, don't worry." For the next few minutes, the girls ate their food, Ophelia acknowledging that it was indeed more filling than she thought it would be. After congratulating Soleil on the suggestion, she changed topics. "So, would it be weird for me to ask about something you mentioned earlier?"

"Not at all," Soleil said. "I am an open book, for the most part."

Ophelia's eyes lit up. "I like books."

It was a complete throwaway comment, but it set Soleil's mind racing and she remembered something about downtown. "Hey, speaking of which, do you wanna go walk around a bookstore? I know an awesome one not too far away!"

Ophelia cocked her head to the side. "Er, I guess, but I wanted to ask you something." Soleil's wandering mind settled and she apologized, giving Ophelia the go-ahead to ask her question. "Right. So, about something you said earlier: when did you start liking girls? I mean, unless you don't wanna talk about it."

Soleil shrugged, totally used to getting that question from her dates. "No, it's fine. Actually, I was never really into anyone but girls, so I guess the answer is when I started thinking romantic thoughts." When Ophelia nodded, she got the question turned on her. "So what about you, huh? How do you feel about girls?"

Ophelia shrugged, tracing the rim of her coffee cup. "I dunno, I'm still figuring out the whole sexuality thing."

Soleil assured Ophelia she understood, but it also made her remember that this date wasn't one that was accepted willingly. She had essentially dragged Ophelia into going out that day. She didn't accept the offer because she liked Soleil, she did it so she would join the cheer squad, and that thought soured Soleil's mood a bit. She shook it off immediately, as a goal was forming in her head: to make sure this was the best possible first date Ophelia could possibly have. "I hate to change the subject so soon, but about that bookstore I mentioned..."

"What about it?" Ophelia asked, not seeming too perturbed by the sudden change of pace.

"Wanna check it out?" Soleil asked, turning in her chair to prepare to jump out of it.

"Sure!"

The girls left the little coffee shop, drinks in hand, and Soleil lead the way through the city to the bookstore. "The books are our current destination, but if you see anything else that catches your fancy, just let me know and we'll take a look, okay?" As they ducked through the crowds, one girl leading the other, they exchanged idle conversation, which proved more effective at getting to know each other than all those months hanging out briefly at school did. And, with each and every word that spilled out of her date's mouth, Soleil could feel herself falling more in love with her. The more time passed, the more convinced she was that her initial attraction was somehow prophetic, and the phrase "meant to be" crossed her mind several times. Judging by Ophelia's face and tone of voice, she seemed to be enjoying herself as well, which only made Soleil feel better.

Finally, they reached the bookstore as Soleil promised and stopped long enough for her to gather herself. "Whew, we've been walking a while," she said. "There's a bench just inside, if you wanna take a seat and rest your feet for a moment."

Ophelia nodded agreement, but Soleil should have known she wasn't going to get to sit down. As soon as they were inside the door, Ophelia's face lit up and her jaw dropped at the huge expanse of books within. She shot off into the store, completely forgetting Soleil's proposal to sit down and nearly forgetting she was there altogether. Soleil shook her head, still wearing a genuine smile despite being left in the dust. She scrambled to catch up to Ophelia, finally managing to reach the blonde girl's side while she stood in front of a huge shelf of books. "They're beautiful," Ophelia said softly, seeming to be on the verge of tears. "I've never been in a bookstore this...this huge before! I feel like this is the place I was born to be in!" She started picking out books, taking a look at their covers and sticking them back on the shelf, seemingly completely at random.

That day, they combed the entire inside of that bookstore, and Soleil had to play the role of impulse control several times. One potential purchase in particular made Soleil give a suspicious look when Ophelia grabbed it from the shelf. The hefty book with a child's smiling face on it was an awfully strange choice for a girl still in high school to be looking through. "A baby name book?" Soleil asked. "What's that for?"

Ophelia looked at the pages intently, nodding at the entries. "You see, my father and I have a knack for naming things, but he's much better at names than I am, so perhaps a name book would help me out."

Soleil bit her lip, making an unsure noise. "Ehh, I don't know, I think you'd get some weird looks if a girl like you were walking out of here with a baby name book."

Ophelia nodded, eyes moving from the names in the book to the area around them, making sure nobody was shooting her those looks as they spoke. "I guess you're right."

"Besides," Soleil continued. "You don't need some name book to help you, I bet you can think of the best names all on your own. All you need is a little practice. I think."

"You really think so?" Ophelia asked, slapping the book closed.

Soleil gave her companion a thumb's up and a wink. "I'm confident!"

Ophelia smiled, placing the book back on the shelf with a nod. "You're right, a true master of names can think them up on her own."

"What would you name our date?" Soleil asked, leading Ophelia away from the family planning area of the bookstore. Ophelia put a finger to her chin and hummed in thought. Her contemplation didn't last long, unfortunately, because another section of books caught her eye and she gasped before rushing off in their direction. Soleil laughed and shrugged. "Oh, silly Ophelia," she muttered to herself. "You are just incorrigible."

Despite Soleil's attempts, Ophelia still managed to walk out of the store having bought four or five books after another hour or two more of browsing. "That was fun!" She said happily, the large plastic sack full of books swaying back and forth on her arm. "What's next?"

"I'm not sure," Soleil said with a shrug. "We're downtown, so there're a bunch of options."

Ophelia looked around, examining the surrounding buildings and thinking to herself. "Let's explore and see if we stumble on anything."

That was the closest any of them had to an idea, so they set off, exploring the city blocks of downtown and looking for something to do. All the while, they continued chatting, as they had before they entered the bookstore. "So, about that name I asked you about earlier," Soleil said at one point.

"What name?" Ophelia's excitement over the books seemed to cause her to forget the earlier request completely.

"I asked you to name our date," Soleil reminded her.

Ophelia bounced a bit, her blonde curls bouncing with her. "Oh, right! Hm, I've never thought of the idea of naming a date before. Perhaps once it's over I'll have a good name to give it."

"Okay, I look forward to it," Soleil said with a smile. "Speaking of which, how are you enjoying yourself?"

Ophelia smirked and held a hand in front of her face playfully. "I guess you'll have to see when I give our date a name!"

"Fair enough," Soleil laughed.

The day passed, and the early afternoon hours turned into evening hours. The girls watched the sky darken, deciding it was probably best to wrap their date up and head home. "Do you want to grab dinner first?" Soleil asked once they had gotten to the light rail station. "I'd hate to send you off after your first date without dinner."

"I didn't see anywhere that would be a good dinner spot," Ophelia said sadly. "I would love to if there was anywhere close."

"I understand," Soleil said. "So, about that name..."

"Right!" Ophelia nodded and held a hand to the charm around her neck, fumbling with it and closing her eyes to think. Finally, her eyes shot open with a look of determination. "Alright, from this day forward, this very date will be known as The Galactic Downtown Adventure Tour!"

Soleil laughed, nodding her approval. "Sounds good. So did you have fun?"

Ophelia nodded. "Yeah, it was nice getting to know you better. Now I suspect we will get along just fine when you join the cheer squad." The last four words were delivered like a sucker punch, and reminded Soleil that that stipulation was the only reason she had gone on this date in the first place.

She sighed and gave Ophelia a weary smile. "You know what? I think I can do that. Since you held up your end of the bargain and all."

Before Ophelia could respond, her light rail arrived at the station, sliding to a stop behind her and flinging its doors open. "Oh, that's my train. I have to leave." She leaned in and hurriedly planted a smooch on Soleil's cheek. "See you in school, Soleil!" She waved with her free hand and skipped off, boarding the train just in time for the doors to slide closed and the train to start heading to the south of town.

Soleil would have waved at the departing train if the kiss hadn't taken her completely off guard.

Moments later, the train going north arrived on the other side of the station, and a dazed Soleil boarded it, staring into space and trying to commit the feeling of Ophelia's lips on her face to memory. When she got home and her father asked how the date had gone, she merely responded with a dreamy sigh. "Sounds like it went well," he laughed.

Soleil nodded and headed off into the house to rest her tired body and continue daydreaming about how her date went. It was nearly perfect, and the only way it could have gone better was if she had gotten a kiss on the lips from Ophelia. She looked in the mirror and saw the scab on her lip, looking better than that morning; but more importantly, it had gone completely forgotten once the date had started proper. If the date was good enough for her to forget the defect on her face, maybe joining the cheerleading squad would be worth it after all.

Then the school year started, and Soleil wanted to eat those words.

Ophelia was quick to find her on the first day, looking at her with a smug smirk. "Alright, Soleil," she said expectantly. "It's time to put your money where your mouth is."

Soleil sighed, struggling not to stare at Ophelia's lips, because looking there for too long would cause her think about the kiss she got, which would have ended in her day dreaming in the middle of a conversation. Again. Instead, she looked Ophelia in the eyes and said, "yeah, I know. My daddy didn't raise no liar, so I'll sign up. ...Just, when I can find the sheet."

Ophelia offered Soleil her hand. "I'll take you there," she said. Soleil hesitantly took her hand and they ventured down to the lunch room. Ophelia lead her to a tackboard on the wall with a bunch of papers and slips hanging off it. Ophelia grabbed a pen from her pants pocket and hastily scribbled her name on it, dotting her I with a star. Seriously, who gave her permission to be such a damn cutie? She offered her pen to Soleil, who refused it and grabbed her own pink gel pen. She jotted her own name down in the glittery ink and Ophelia nodded proudly. "There, now was that so hard?"

Soleil feigned her hand cramping dramatically. "Yes, actually," she cried out. "I think I might die!"

Ophelia laughed and turned on her heel, anxious to get to class. "Talk to you later, Soleil!"

"Later," Soleil called after her. When Ophelia was out of sight, she uncapped her pen again and drew a heart on each side of Ophelia's name, sighing dreamily as she did. The warning bell rang, startling her into rushing off to class.

The try outs weren't even for two weeks until after school started, and with every hour that passed, Soleil grew more nervous. Sure, she wouldn't be judged by the coach, because he was her own father! But all the other girls (and Percy if he wanted to go for it again) would surely scrutinize her up and down. She could already hear the cries of "you're only on the squad because you're daddy's little princess," and "you didn't _earn_ your way on" bouncing around in her head.

The night before tryouts, Inigo knocked on Soleil's bedroom door, coming in to a very scared girl hiding under the sheets. "Soleil? Anybody home?" He jokingly knocked on the top of Soleil's head through the sheets. "I'd like to see the woman of the house."

Soleil couldn't resist his goofy tone and poked her head out, wearing a smile that wasn't forced, but still a little pained. "Yeah, dad?"

Inigo held up the cheer sign-up sheet, causing Soleil to flinch back. "I just wanted to tell you how proud I am that you're finally going out for cheerleading after all these years," he said, pointing at Soleil's glittery name.

"Yeah, well I won't be sticking around long, I'm sure," Soleil said. Suddenly, one of her fears rose up and she stood from her bed, looking her father in the eye with a frantic look. "Right! Dad! I want you to promise me something!"

Inigo took a step back, startled by Soleil's sudden volume. "Wh-what is it?"

Soleil didn't need to yell, but she was so nervous and anxious that she had no other idea of how to convey this request. "I need you to promise me to be brutally honest about how much I suck!" The next bit wasn't said without choking up a little bit. "If...if I'm a terrible cheerleader who can't do shit, I want you to tell me that upfront and not let me onto the squad just because I'm your daughter!"

Inigo nodded, putting a soothing hand on Soleil's shoulder. "Is that what you're scared of?"

"A little bit," Soleil admitted. "I'm already going to embarrass myself in front of the girl I like, so I don't need you pretending I'm better than I am on top of it."

Inigo motioned to the bed, where they both took a seat before he wrapped his arm around his shoulder. "Soleil, my flower, I understand that you're scare of messing up, but don't worry about a thing. If you go in there and do your very best, you'll do a job that will make everyone proud. And, yes, I'd love for you to be on my cheer squad, but if you just don't have what it takes, I promise you I won't show you any special treatment."

"Thanks," Soleil managed. "Do you really think I'll do good?"

"Absolutely!" Inigo said. "If you're anything like me or your grandmother, you'll do great."

"But what if I'm more like mom?" Soleil asked, running a hand through her pink hair and thinking about the last time her mother tripped in front of her (which was about twenty minutes ago).

"Then I will still be proud of my daughter," Inigo assured her. He kissed her forehead and took a stand. "Alright, well we should both get some sleep, eh? Big day tomorrow, after all."

"Right," Soleil agreed.

As Inigo reached the door, he said, "oh, one more thing?"

"Yeah, daddy?"

He held up the sheet and pointed at the name above Soleil's. "Next time you wanna be sly, remember your dad gets this sign-up sheet and can see what you draw on it with your signature pen." Soleil's face heated up and she wordlessly buried her face in her pillow, laughing so hard tears streamed down her face. Inigo smiled and left the room, closing the door tight behind him.

This was going to be one interesting day.

And it was. Despite the classes leading up to it being about as boring as they could possibly be, the Soleil who usually didn't pay attention due to staring at pretty girls was replaced by a Soleil who couldn't bring herself to focus on anything except the impending terror of what was sure to be a horrendous failure of a tryout. When lunch came, she quickly found Ophelia and grabbed a seat next to her, looking for someone to talk about her fears to. Ophelia nodded understanding as Soleil talked to her about her fears. When Soleil wrapped up her venting with a question of what to expect, she received a confused look. "Weren't you at tryouts last year?" Ophelia asked.

"I guess," Soleil said with a shrug. "I don't remember any of it, though. I really only stayed on my phone and admired the pretty girls."

"Of course you did," Ophelia laughed. "Okay, well, all you'll need to do are some standard moves, nothing too ambitious."

Soleil nodded, biting her lip nervously. "Alright, good to know that I'll be fucking up the easy stuff," she sighed.

"You will not," Ophelia assured her. "All you have to do is think limber thoughts. ...And eat your lunch. Last year, I didn't eat breakfast the day of tryouts and I ended up regretting it."

Soleil laughed at the seemingly out of nowhere advice. "Yeah, right."

"No, I'm serious," Ophelia insisted. "You'll thank me when your stomach isn't killing you after tryouts."

Soleil wanted to argue, but Ophelia's dead serious look convinced her not to, and they spent most of the rest of lunch eating in relative silence. Finally, once their meal had wrapped up and everyone around them was preparing for their next class, Soleil asked one more question of Ophelia. "Do you really think I can do it?"

"Absolutely," Ophelia nodded. "If I didn't think you could do it, I wouldn't have made that deal with you."

"No," Soleil corrected her. "You went on that date with me to try to convince me that cheerleading is a sport, which I remain unconvinced about."

Ophelia laughed knowingly, grabbing her stuff and taking a stand. "You'll see soon enough," she said in a tone Soleil didn't like much at all.

The day drew to a close, and after the final bell sounded, Soleil grabbed her things and made tracks for the gym. After quickly changing into gym clothes, she stood in a line with the other girls (and Percy and one other boy) in a scene that was very familiar to the girls (and Percy) who had been on the squad the previous year. Even the coach's speech was very similar to the one he had given the previous year. "Alright everybody, you are all here to be a part of Nohr High School's beloved cheer squad." A paused to allow Percy to shout the school's slogan. "I'm very proud of the turnout this year. To be specific, I do believe this is the largest number of returning cheerleaders I've ever seen! However, if you are a returnee, don't get cocky, because I will still need you to tryout formally. Just to make sure this summer hasn't caused you to get out of shape.

"For those trying out for the first time, please be wary. I know some of you are doing this to avoid having to take P.E., but let me be clear: cheerleading is so much harder than P.E. that if you let your guard down, you'll shed blood that you wouldn't have in that class. So if that's your motivation, leave now." He paused, letting anyone who that warning apply to leave, but nobody left, and everybody remained staring at him. Once more he got flustered, turning and starting to pace in front of the prospective and returning cheerleaders. "Now, what is the most important thing to know about cheerleading?"

Ophelia jumped into the air, throwing her hand up eagerly. Just like the year before, she shouted, "cheerleading is a sport!"

Inigo smiled and pointed at Ophelia. "You haven't changed a bit over the summer. Very good. She's right! Remember, people will tease you, make fun of you, and try to tell you that cheerleading is merely standing around looking pretty, but cheerleading is just as physically exhausting as any proper sport. Keep that in mind!" His gaze landed on his daughter just in time to see her roll her eyes. He smiled devilishly and shook his head, continuing, "we will have routines, exercises, tumbling, lifting, and basically, if you can name it, it's probably in cheerleading. If you don't believe me now, you will. That's a promise from your coach Laslow. Now, head into the locker rooms and wait for your name to be called. We'll be doing individual tryouts. Break!"

The girls scurried into the locker room (with Percy obviously going into a different room) and some of the nervous girls who were going out for their first year of cheerleading started asking the returning squad members questions about what to expect. Soleil listened to the answers, trying to put on an air of not being perturbed. As the girls started filing out when their names were called, conversation died down a bit, which gave Ophelia the opportunity to approach Soleil. "Hey, how are you holding up?"

Soleil shrugged. "Same as earlier. Bundle of nerves, you know."

Ophelia nodded understanding and took a seat next to Soleil, letting their arms brush against each other. "Hey, at least this won't be like last year." When asked what she was talking about, she elaborated, "last year, my name was the last one on the sign-up sheet, so I was the last one in here. That was pretty hard on the nerves."

"I guess, but that won't help much," Soleil admitted.

"Why not?"

Soleil felt her face heat up as she said, "my name's after yours, so you won't be by my side the whole time to help ease my nerves, which is almost as bad." Ophelia's face flushed deep red, and she stuttered, trying to think of something to say. What came out was a nervous laugh, accompanied by her hand resting on top of Soleil's. "What, too cheesy?"

Ophelia laughed again, a genuine one this time. "No, it's fine. I was just...surprised." Suddenly, her name was called from the door, and she jumped up, taking a deep breath and giving Soleil a thumb's up. "Text me and tell me how it goes. And remember: limber thoughts."

"Right," Soleil nodded. "Good luck, not that you'll need it." She hated seeing Ophelia go, but watching her leave wasn't too terrible. She spent the next few minutes staring at the wall absently, thinking about what to expect. Finally, her own name was called, and she could tell her father was hard at work resisting following up with a cutesy pet name. Ophelia came in and grabbed her stuff, accompanying Soleil out the door and heading for the gym's exit with a wave. A pair of pom-poms sat in the middle of the gym and Soleil did as she figured she was expected to do and picked them up. "Hi dad," she said quietly.

"Hey now, when you're in this gym and I'm wearing this whistle around my neck, you will be calling me coach Laslow," he said.

"But that's so weird," Soleil protested.

Laslow barked a laugh and took a stand from his favorite seat in the bleachers. "It's how I do things, now let's get started. You aren't doing this to skip P.E., are you?"

"No," Soleil said, shaking her head.

"Yet you don't think cheerleading's a sport, is that correct?" Laslow fiddled with the whistle in his hand, seemingly ready to blow into it at the drop of a hat.

Soleil bit her lip, shrugging nonchalantly. "Not...really? That's why Ophelia convinced me to sign up, to try and prove to me that it is."

"I see," Laslow said, a smile making its way across his face. "I'm glad to hear it. You'll be convinced soon enough. Now let's do some exercises! These will be the basic moves you'll be expected to know for the year, so try to figure them out quickly. If you can't you may not make it onto the squad."

And so they got to work, Laslow barking orders and Soleil doing her best to follow them. The requests weren't overly hard to fill once Laslow explained how to do them, but there were a few flubs, leading to Soleil falling on her butt and immediately sharing a laugh with her father. Every maneuver that she performed was followed by Laslow looking down and frantically scribbling a note down. It got to the point that Soleil needed to look away when she knew he was taking a note, but the sound of the pencil scratching on the paper was impossible not to listen to. What felt like an eternity later, Laslow took a stand, putting his clipboard down next to him, and stepped down from the bleachers. He gingerly took the pom-poms off Soleil's hands and took her into a tight hug, patting her back and saying, "I'm so proud of you, Soleil. It took a few years longer than I would have liked, but I finally managed to get you to try out for cheerleading, and I couldn't be more happy for you."

"Thanks," Soleil said. "Even though I signed up because of a girl and not you?"

Laslow laughed and pulled away, moving both of his hands to Soleil's shoulders. "I knew it would happen that way if it happened at all, so yes." After they shared a laugh, he left his daughter's side to sit at the bleachers again. "Now grab your stuff and take a seat next to me."

Soleil nodded, and once she had herself settled, she elbowed her father's side. "So did I make it in?"

He smiled and shook his head. "You'll see when I hand out the acceptance letters."

"Damn it," Soleil mumbled.

Not long after getting home, Soleil's phone lit up with a text from Ophelia, asking eagerly if she got accepted. She responded with the explanation that she had to wait for the letter just like everybody else. Ophelia's response was a confused. "what? I was told right away last year."

"Weird," was Soleil's response, typed out while half-watching a show.

"Granted, telling me early was kind of a bad idea, but still..."

That message was ignored, because Soleil's mind started jumping to conclusions, evidenced by her next text, "oh no, what if I didn't make it in and that's why he didn't tell me?"

Since this as a text conversation, Soleil waited for Ophelia to respond, though her mind had made several logic leaps in the time it took for her phone to light up again. The message said, "calm down until after I tell you the story of what happened last year." Despite her sudden panic, Soleil patiently waited for Ophelia to type out the story, which took five texts to send thanks to her flair for dramatics. However, after working through the fluff and reading the story of Ophelia accusing Laslow of favoritism the previous year, Soleil started to calm down a bit.

"So you're saying he's just making sure no one can say he's playing favorites," she asked.

"I think that's it exactly," Ophelia assured her. "Just wait it out, okay?"

That was easier said than done. A week passed without any news regarding the cheer squad, and the would-be newcomers to the squad started to get nervous, turning to the returnees for reassurance. They were usually good about dissuading people's fears (especially Percy), but only Ophelia's word could calm Soleil's nerves. The newcomers were assured that if they got accepted, coach Laslow would find them during lunch.

One morning, Soleil couldn't help but notice a stack of envelopes sitting snugly between the driver's and passenger's seats on the way to school. She looked their way, but just as she was able to make out Ophelia's name, her father put one hand on top of the stack. "Hey now," he warned, eyes still on the road. "Spoilers, my dear."

"Aw come on," Soleil said. "You've kept me in the dark long enough."

"You get to figure it out at the same time everyone else does," Laslow assured her. Soleil asked in a sweet voice if she could learn just a little sooner, and he bit his lip. "We'll see," he said. Reluctantly, Soleil accepted the answer and stared at the stack under his hand. "I should have let you drive today," he grumbled, realizing his hand was going to have to stay put for the entire drive.

The day wore on, and shortly after the lunch bell rang, Soleil hurriedly entered the combination on her locker. The sooner she could get to lunch, the sooner she could learn if she was accepted or not. She flung open her locker and saw an envelope sitting just inside, her name inscribed on it in fancy cursive. She gasped, put her stuff away and grabbed the envelope, too eager to wait any longer. She carefully dug into it and produced a paper. It was clearly not personalized, but that wasn't important; what was important was the message inside, which congratulated Soleil on making it onto the cheer squad! Soleil loudly celebrated, causing some students to give her weird looks, but she couldn't have cared less about the eyes on her at the moment. She had to tell Ophelia right away! She ran to the lunch room, a woman on a mission. When she found Ophelia, the blonde girl didn't get so far as a greeting before getting tackled by a tight hug. "Wha-what's this about?" She asked.

"I did it!" Soleil said happily. "I made it!"

Ophelia's face lit up and she started returning the hug. "You did? Oh yay! I'm so happy for you!"

They broke apart and Soleil flashed Ophelia the envelope. "See? Here's your proof."

"Nice,"Ophelia said with a nod. "Now you get to see just how much of a sport cheerleading is!

Soleil scoffed, pocketing the letter. "Please, as if. If anything, I'll just show you how easy I can do everything."

"You're on," Ophelia said, her eyes narrowing. She was, of course, the first person besides Soleil to receive her letter, and the girls spent the rest of lunch talking about how excited they were to get to know each other and the new girls to the squad over the coming year. The first practice came and went days later, Soleil and Ophelia using that time to meet the new girls together (Percy was still the only boy on the squad) after telling Laslow what size uniforms they needed.

Then, the second practice came and the real trouble started.

The first order of business on the second day of practice was putting on the new uniforms. They were slightly different from the last year's, but the girls who had done cheerleading already had no problem adjusting to the new look. Once she had it on, Soleil did a spin or two, asking Ophelia how she looked. After receiving a positive response, she pinched the sides of the skirt, doing a curtsey with it while examining the length. "The skirt's not too bad," she mused. "I could see myself doing the thing with this."

"The thing...?" Ophelia asked warily. "Do I even want to know what you're talking about?"

Soleil rolled her eyes. "Oh, I'm on the squad now, so you don't have to pretend anymore. You know, the thing cheerleaders do on game days to rile the sports player up."

"Um, cheer?" Sophie guessed.

Soleil shook her head insistently. "No, the other thing!" When her response was silence, she motioned to her skirt. "The thing where you don't wear panties to excite the boys!"

A moment passed in that locker room that was so silent that one could hear a pin drop from outside the school. Ophelia hesitantly put a hand on Soleil's shoulder and said, "er, Soleil? Where...did you hear that?"

"I read it," Soleil said. "In...my stories."

"What kind of stories have you been reading?" Sophie asked. "Because that is _so_ not true."

Soleil's face started to heat up when faced with that fact, but before the other girls could laugh at her and embarrass her, Nina stepped in, face red as she said, "however, that gives me a wonderful idea!"

The girls shared a laugh at Nina before heading out to practice. "Man, I'm glad I learned that before a game day," Soleil said to Ophelia on their way out.

"It's okay," Ophelia assured her. "Everyone has their misconceptions, even if yours was a bit weird."

"What can I say," Soleil responded. "I'm a hormonal teenage girl who loves other hormonal teenage girls."

For Soleil, the trouble didn't end there, because Laslow came out of the gate giving the girls (and Percy) extremely strenuous tasks, as if he was purposefully throwing out the hardest ones he could possibly think of. The new recruits had a considerable struggle with this method, and the returning members were confused about Laslow's change in coaching this year. When someone asked him to explain himself, he shrugged and made a dismissive hand gesture. "Worry not. There's a method to my madness. Remember, keep smiling!"

Soleil was having a hard time keeping to this ideal, because she was easily the worst member of the cheer squad at nearly every action. Where most of the girls would perform something flawlessly, Soleil would, more often than not, miss the landing or slip up at some point and end up hitting the padded ground hard. Laslow would do as he did with all the other girls, and that was to help Soleil up, tell her to smile, and pat her on the back before sending her off to try again.

After a month with only minimal improvement, Soleil cracked during one particularly infuriating practice. When prompted to smile, she stomped her foot and shot a glare at her father. "How can I smile when I'm so terrible at this?"

"Everyone has to start somewhere," Laslow assured her. "You just need to keep working at it."

Soleil crossed her arms and pursed her lips. "Yeah, I started at the bottom and I'm still there! I don't think it's even possible for me to get better!"

Moving his hands to his daughter's shoulders, Laslow gave her a warm smile. "Hey now, you don't actually believe that."

"I'm trying not to, but it's so hard," Soleil whined. "What if I can't do it?"

"You can," Laslow promised her. "Your grandmother was a dancer, I'm a dancer and a cheerleader; this is in your blood."

Soleil shook her head, tears starting to form in her eyes. "It doesn't matter if it's in my blood, I can't do it!"

Laslow's face grew serious, his smile disappearing. "You can," he insisted.

Soleil nearly screamed, "I can't!"

"You just need a rest to clear your mind," Laslow said, brushing off the fact that his daughter just yelled in his face. He patted her shoulders again and said, "take five, Soleil." He ushered her into the locker room and continued addressing the others without missing a beat.

Once she arrived, she tore her headband from her hair and threw it at a locker with a frustrated yell. "Gods, damn it!" She sat down hard on a bench and buried her face in her hands. "Why did I think this was a good idea?" She spent the next couple of minutes silently focusing on her breathing, taking deep breaths and shuddering with anger every few exhales. She didn't hear the door to the gym open, so when a hand found itself on her shoulder, she screamed. She jumped to her feet and turned to see a startled Ophelia, hand outstretched and eyes wide. "Oh...hey Ophelia. What's...what's up?"

"I wanted to check up on you," Ophelia answered.

Soleil's face settled and she guessed, "because my dad asked you to, right?"

Ophelia put on a stern frown and crossed her arms. "No, because I wanted to."

Her friend's eyes held sincerity, so Soleil immediately felt guilty for assuming, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. "Oh, sorry."

"It's okay," Ophelia assured her. She moved to where Soleil had thrown her headband and picked up the white piece, examining the golden marks running along it. "I've always thought this was a really pretty headband," she said in an attempt to change the subject. "Where'd you get it?"

Soleil shrugged, taking her seat again. "I dunno. It belonged to my grandma before she died."

Ophelia nodded and approached Soleil. "I see," she said as she took a seat next to her. "Did you know her?"

Soleil shook her head. "No. My father said she died before I was born. Sometimes he jokes that I'm her reincarnation, as if he believes in that sort of thing."

Ophelia laughed a soft, but genuine sounding laugh. "That sounds like something my dad would do too. I too didn't get to meet my grandmother. I have a trinket from her too, actually."

"Is it that necklace you showed me before the cheer competition?" Soleil asked, to which she got a nod in response. "That's cool that we have that in common."

Ophelia nodded quickly. "Yeah." They sat together in silence for a minute, Soleil feeling better just by sitting next to Ophelia. Finally, Ophelia cleared her throat. "Okay, time to address the elephant in the room. How are you doing?"

"Not well," Soleil responded, her mood instantly dropping. "I can't do any of these stunts, and my dad isn't even helping! I know I told him not to show favoritism, but I didn't mean for him to be harder on me."

Nodding, Ophelia slid closer to Soleil, their arms brushing together. "I know, but keep in mind that this is hard for all of us. He didn't start with stuff this difficult last year."

Soleil sniffled, still down, but appreciating Ophelia's presence. "I wonder what's different this year."

'What's different is that he skipped the easier stuff," Ophelia said. "If he covered the easy stuff that you need to know to do the hard stuff right, you wouldn't be having so much trouble." After a moment of contemplation, she suddenly bounced, startling Soleil. "Hey, I have an idea! What if I helped you?"

"What?"

Ophelia nodded happily. "Yeah, what if I helped you get the stunts down? It'd be like tutoring, but with cheerleading. You'd get to learn the easier stuff, I'd get a refresher on that same stuff, and then, when we come back to practice after the fact, we'll blow them all away!"

Soleil straightened up, eager for the opportunity to spend extra time with Ophelia. "That sounds like an awesome idea! Let's do it!"

"Alright," Ophelia said. "We'll set something up later, but until then, let's get back out there, okay?" When Soleil nodded agreement, Ophelia got to her feet and stretched. When she realized Soleil's headband was still in her hand, she slid it back on her friend's head, pausing after she was done to stare into her eyes. Soleil was perfectly okay with that, and the two girls stayed frozen like that for a few moments, just taking each other in with Ophelia's hands framing Soleil's face. When Soleil's eyes narrowed and she leaned in closer, Ophelia's face flushed and she jumped back, awkwardly clearing her throat to change the subject. "Let's, uh, go back now, yeah?"

"Yeah," Soleil said, taking Ophelia's hand and using it to help herself stand up. "But I saw that! You're not getting away from me, Ophelia Dusk!"

"Shut up and get back to practice."

After practice, Soleil followed her dad to the car, ready to rest her tired muscles at home. "Would you like to drive us home?" Laslow offered, to which Soleil responded by sadly shaking her head. When they got in the car and started heading home, Soleil sighed as she freed her hair from her headband, looking at the piece with uncertainty in her eyes. "Dad, do I deserve to wear this?" The question was asked in a voice so silent that if she hadn't been heard, she wouldn't have pushed the subject.

However, she had been heard, and coach Laslow had clearly become Inigo again when he said, "of course you deserve to wear that. It looks great on you."

"No, I don't mean like that," she clarified, watching her father reach for the radio to turn the catchy pop music down. "I mean, like, is there any way for me to live up to my grandma's legacy that doesn't involve embarrassing myself in front of so many people?"

Inigo sighed, refusing to take the eyes off the road but putting on a sympathetic smile. "Soleil, my flower. Don't worry about that. You weren't given that headband to be just like your grandmother, it was given to you because it's one of the only things I have left of my mother. There was never any pressure to follow in her elegant footsteps."

"Oh really?" Soleil snapped, her blood starting to boil. "Then why did you write my name down on the sign-up sheets three years in a row? If there was no pressure, what do you call all those smart remarks about me going out for ballet, or interpretive dance, or cheerleading?"

Inigo's eyes widened and he bit his lip. "Er, I can see how you would think that..."

Soleil tossed the headband into Inigo's lap before crossing her arms and fixating her gaze squarely out the passenger window. "I've heard enough," she said simply. "I'm quitting the cheer squad."

She thought the sudden stopping of the vehicle was because of what she said, but when she looked to the windshield, she saw that they had gotten home. Inigo, however, was sitting in the driver's seat, hands tight on the wheel and gaze downcast. "Soleil, that's a big decision."

Soleil stubbornly shook her head. "No, joining was a big decision, and it wasn't even made for me!"

Inigo's response came quickly. "True, but it wasn't me who finally pushed you into doing it, it was Ophelia." The succinct and calm response shut Soleil up immediately, and they sat together in silence in the car for a moment. Finally, Inigo said, "talk to her about this before you make that decision. It may be nice to get a second opinion." Finally, he reached to the keys and shut the car off. "I'm sorry," was all he said before getting out and making haste to the front door. Soleil sat alone in the car for a moment, thinking over the tone her father had used for his apology, almost like it pained him to have to say. Or maybe it pained him to leave?

Whichever it was, Soleil's thoughts were interrupted by her phone vibrating. She looked down at her phone to see Ophelia's name shining at her through her tear-stained vision. It was then she realized she had been crying, but she couldn't recall for how long to save her life. The text was about the tutoring session that had been suggested earlier, and Ophelia's question (in simple terms) had been when worked best for Soleil. After running through her mental schedule, Soleil responded that she didn't have anything going on during the weekend, so a plan was made for that Sunday, which happened to only be a day out. Finally, Soleil dragged herself out of the car and made her way inside, excited to take the next day off, but arguably more excited to get to spend some time alone with Ophelia again. However, the downtime wouldn't have excited her so much if she had known that the day leading up to the tutoring session was going to be an awkward, quiet mess in her house. Inigo seemed to withdraw completely, and both Soleil and her mother got a particularly strong anti-social vibe from him, so neither of them felt courageous enough to ask what was troubling him. Both him and his daughter were giving off the air of something being very wrong though, so it wasn't difficult to guess what was amiss.

Sunday afternoon came, and not long after giving Ophelia her address, Soleil was greeted by a text telling her to grab her uniform and head outside. The crappy car sitting out front definitely belonged to her friend, but she was confused when she took a seat inside to find only Ophelia sitting in the driver's seat. "Is this kosher?" She asked.

Ophelia nodded and proudly produced a wallet from her pocket. She opened it to reveal that coveted card nestled neatly in the middle. "I'm proud to announce that I have just recently earned my proper driver's license, so yes, I can drive wherever I want with whoever I like."

"Neat!" Soleil said, bouncing in her seat and putting her seatbelt on. "So let's head out. I really need to get good today."

Not picking up the vague implication of a deadline in her friend's voice, Ophelia shifted into drive and set off, towards a local gym. Once they got there, Soleil repeated herself while they were changing into their uniforms, finally prompting a, "what do you mean?"

"If I can't get any better after today, I'm quitting the squad." The words were delivered with the hesitation of a girl who knew exactly who she was talking to, and dreading the response, which was assuredly going to be over the top and dramatic.

Instead, Ophelia sighed and nodded understanding. "I see. I'd understand."

"Really, you would?" Soleil asked.

Shooting a pointed gaze at her companion, Ophelia cracked a smile. "On one condition." When prompted further, she said, "do you recognize cheerleading as a sport now that you see how hard it is?"

Soleil buried her face in her palm. She should have known that was coming sooner or later. Despite her annoyance, she meant it when she answered with, "yeah, I do. I didn't give you girls—and Percy—enough credit."

"Good," Ophelia said with a nod. "Now let's get out there, shall we?"

Soleil nodded, but got distracted when she tried to brush her pink hair from her face. That shouldn't have been a problem. "Wait, where'd my headband go?"

"You weren't wearing it when you got in the car," Ophelia answered. "I figured it was in your purse."

Soleil shook her head, only bothered by her unrestrained hair because now she was thinking about it. "If it's not on my head, it's on the nightstand by my bed. That's how it works." Then she remembered when she threw it at her dad. He must have kept it to himself for the time being, which caused a couple different feelings to start swirling around in Soleil's chest.

"It'll turn up." Oblivious to this new train of thought, Ophelia dug out two headbands from her own purse and offered them both. "Here, you can have one of mine." She wiggled the one covered in stars and said, "this one's Galaxia, and the yellow one's Sarah."

Several questions arose from that one simple sentence. "You even name your headbands?" Soleil started with a laugh. When answered by a nod, she shook her head playfully. "Gods, you are too cute. I'll take the one with the simple name, because that's clearly your backup."

Ophelia smiled and handed the plain yellow headband to Soleil. "Hey, don't underestimate the power of a princess."

"It's a princess now, huh?" Soleil asked, taking the headband but wishing Ophelia had put it on her head for her like she had the other day.

"That's the meaning behind the name Sarah, so yes," Ophelia responded, putting Galaxia on her own head. "Now let's get going, shall we?"

The gym Ophelia had chosen for practice was kind of empty, but that was alright, because the girls needed a lot of open space and the lack of people meant nobody to protest when they pulled out the gymnastics mats and laid them out across floor that would usually be taken by rowdy basketball players. While they were stretching, Soleil decided to make small talk. "So, I don't think I'm going to improve today. I inherited my mom's clumsiness more than my grandmother's grace."

Ophelia shrugged. "You know Sophie? She was—and still is pretty clumsy, and all it takes is a few moments outside practice to see that. Cheerleading helped her out, and it can help you, too."

"How did Sophie do it?" Soleil asked, barely being able to wrap her head around the idea of Sophie being a klutz.

Ophelia stood straight, confident in the stretches she had done, and spoke as she watched Soleil continue her own stretches. "She told me she gets into the zone. Really focuses on the task at hand and kinda...forgets all about it. It's admirable, really."

"I see," Soleil said. She too stood from her stretches and nodded. "Alright, teach, let's get this over with. Where do we start?"

Ophelia smiled, liking the sound of the nickname for whatever reason. "Unlike coach Laslow, we'll start with simple stuff. Then, when we go to practice tomorrow, you'll at least be a little more ready for the harder stunts."

"Right," Soleil nodded. "Lead the way, cutie!"

At the sound of the pet name, Ophelia only protested a little bit before beginning to tutor her friend. Once the lessons started, however, everything changed. She did as Sophie apparently did and set everything else aside to focus on the stunts she was doing (and the beautiful girl instructing her, of course). She couldn't tell if it was the lesser difficulty of the stunts she was being asked to perform, or the method she had learned about moments earlier, but she was doing infinitely better. There were a couple of stumbles and falls at the start, but once Soleil got into it, she did much better than she could have hoped. After a couple of hours that flew by, Ophelia took a deep breath. "Alright, I think we've done enough today. How are you feeling?"

"Like I can do anything!" Soleil said, proudly puffing her chest out. "Thank you so much for taking me out today, Ophelia. It means a lot to me."

The girls scurried back into the locker room, feeling accomplished but exhausted. Soleil quickly freed herself of the top of her cheer uniform and sat on one of the benches, breathing heavily. Ophelia smiled and proceeded to start changing herself, but not without catching herself looking at her topless friend occasionally. "So, have you thought about what you're going to do about quitting the squad?"

Soleil shook her head. "Now that I know how to do the simple stuff, I think I'll be okay."

"Glad to hear it," Ophelia said. "It means a lot that I was able to help."

Soleil hummed contentedly and nodded. "It means a whole lot to me too. I owe you so much for this. How can I possibly repay you?"

Feeling her face heating up, Ophelia shrugged hesitantly. "Don't...uh, don't talk like that when you're not fully-clothed."

Soleil smirked and reached up to move her bra strap from her shoulder before giving Ophelia a suggestive look. "What, am I flustering you?"

"N-no!" Ophelia snapped, laughing awkwardly. "Just put a damn shirt on, okay?"

"I'm totally flustering you," Soleil laughed. "But fine, whatever." They got themselves dressed and left the gym, hopping into Ophelia's car. The sun was starting to descend, signaling the end of the day. "Does this car have a name too?"

Ophelia laughed, shifting into drive and making her way through the gym's parking lot. "That's like asking if the ocean's deep! My beloved first car has been lovingly named the SS Virginis!"

Soleil raised an eyebrow. "That's an...odd one."

Ophelia laughed as she flipped her turn signal on. "I got it on my birthday, and I'm a virgo, so I named it after one of the stars in the constellation."

Soleil nodded understanding. "So, uh, where are we going now?"

Ophelia bit her lip. "Right, I should ask before I just drag you places. I was kind of...uh, just hoping that you would wanna...grab some dinner with me or something."

Soleil gasped deeply, looking to Ophelia in the dimming sunlight with a giddy expression. "You mean you wanna go on a dinner date? Hell yeah, sign me up! Let's go wherever you want."

And they did, the dinner being pleasant and their seat in the restaurant giving them a stunning view of the sun setting over the mountains. Ophelia offered to pay with the money her father had given her for the day, but Soleil adamantly refused, insisting that picking up the tab was the least she could do. After leaving a nice tip for their cute server, they got going. They decided to end their day there, as it was a school night, after all. When Ophelia pulled up in front of Soleil's house and unlocked the doors for her, Soleil slipped Sarah the headband off her head. "Here you go," she offered.

Ophelia shook her head and declined. "No, you hold on to it until you find your grandmother's."

She knew exactly where to ask to find her grandmother's headband, but the gesture was so nice that Soleil couldn't bear to reject it outright. "Thanks," she said, taking her seatbelt off and preparing to leave. "And thanks for everything today. Really. I don't know where I'd be without you."

"Not on the squad, first of all," Ophelia laughed. "But I'm glad I could help."

Soleil groaned in frustration. "No, you don't understand, this means so, so much more to me than you can ever know, and I don't know how to convey that."

Ophelia put a finger to her chin, stroking it in thought. "Hm, maybe you could form a monologue like my dad and I do. That usually helps me express my feelings."

Soleil shook her head, the inkling of a plan coming to her. "Maybe that works for you guys, but I work differently. Here, I have an idea." Before Ophelia could ask what that idea was, Soleil pulled her in close and planted a timid kiss on her lips. She pulled back to see Ophelia's stunned face immediately as red as a tomato in the dying light of the day. "Heh. Sorry about that," she said quickly before bolting out of the car and into her house.

About fifteen minutes later, her phone buzzed with a text from Ophelia. It read, "it's okay, I guess you deserve my first kiss after all I've put you through."


	4. The Darkness Gets Bigger

The knowledge that she was just given the privilege of giving Ophelia her first kiss drove Soleil through the next...well, few weeks. She was on top of the world, and nothing could drag her down.

The next day, the cheer squad stared in slack-jawed awe at Ophelia and Soleil, the latter of which went from the worst on the squad to one of the best seemingly by magic. Laslow too was impressed, watching from the sidelines with a sage-like serenity about him. Beginning the day after that, he took a few steps back, going back to the basics and relieving everyone on the team. He wouldn't give any straight answers about his motives in doing such a strange thing, but Soleil was pretty sure he did it to see if she would stick it out through the hard parts. Once the squad had worked its way to the harder routines naturally, it almost felt ridiculous thinking about how hard of a time Soleil was having with it the first time around. She also felt like she was actually a part of the cheer squad, actually conversing with the girls rather than catcalling them from the bleachers. Once the hard part had been overcome, Soleil felt that maybe this cheerleading thing would work out after all.

Near the end of the first semester, the men's basketball team had an away game, which the cheerleaders usually didn't go to, but two aspects about this particular game stood out. First of all, it was the final basketball game of the semester, so it was a bit of a bigger deal than the ones before it. Even that wouldn't have been enough to bring the cheerleaders along if it weren't for the school they were facing. When the team they were facing was revealed to be Hoshido High's basketball team, it became abundantly clear why the cheerleaders were going too.

"Oh geeze, this means we have to deal with their cheer squad," Sophie groaned. "I'm not looking forward to doing that again."

Soleil nodded along to the bumping of the loud, crowded bus on the road. "That was something I was present for last year. We ran into the guy with the orange hair and his little harem of beautiful women."

"They weren't that attractive," Ophelia said from Soleil's side.

"Sorry, I have yet to meet a girl I don't at least find physically attractive," Soleil explained.

Percy clapped his hands and rubbed them together in preparation for the arduous game. "We'll show 'em what for this time, I swear it."

"Now now," Laslow interjected. "This isn't the competition, so don't bring your best, because it will be wasted here tonight. I can definitely tell you their cheer squad won't be doing their best routines."

"Right," Nina said. "We hafta tease them. You know, show 'em just enough to make them want more."

The squad nodded agreement as the bus slowed to a stop in front of Hoshido High. The bright red accents on the building were obnoxious and the strange way the roof curled up like a japanese building struck everyone as a bit weird, but they shrugged it off and followed the basketball team inside.

The game itself was a hectic mess, the bleachers crowded with Hoshido students and the sidelines littered with coaches and cheerleaders alike. Even the principal of the school attended the game, sternly watching the proceedings from the bleachers and keeping his eye on one player in particular. Nina snorted when she saw him, leaning in close to Soleil and whispering, "isn't his hair kinda unruly to be the principal of an entire school?"

Soleil nodded agreement. "Mister Xander would never let his hair get that out of control."

Suddenly, a whistle blew and a brown-haired boy flinched as if he were being singled out. Which, as it turned out, he was, for committing a foul that cost him and his team some precious time. The principal cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled, "Shiro, you know better than that!"

The boy grimaced and waved back at his principal and father, seeming to mouth something, but the front of his head was obscured by other players.

"That guy's kinda cute," Ophelia whispered to Sophie, who scoffed in response.

"Yeah, good luck with that. I'm sure Hoshido's principal would just _love_ for his son to date some cheerleader from Nohr."

"Right," Ophelia agreed.

During halftime, the two cheer squads did two different routines, loudly shouting about their school's pride, and from Laslow's perspective, both squads performed pretty equally. However, the audience, which was entirely Hoshido students and family of said students, had a clear favorite. This didn't discourage the Nohr girls (and Percy), who put on an excellent performance that even got some pretty sincere applause from the crowd. Of course, the Hoshido cheerleaders didn't appreciate that, but there wasn't time to dwell on that, as there was a game to wrap up.

A while into the second half, Ophelia stood to excuse herself to the restroom, scurrying out of the gym. Soleil gleefully watched her skirt wave behind her, but also managed to spot a girl with long, blood-red hair leaving shortly after Ophelia. Raising an eyebrow, Soleil also excused herself, just to make sure nothing was about to go wrong.

It almost did.

The girl with the red hair waited outside the bathroom, and Soleil watched this from just out of her sight, using a desk in the gym's lobby to hide herself. When Ophelia came out, she gave the other girl a look of confusion. "Um, may I help you?"

The girl crossed her arms and nodded slowly. "Yeah, but I didn't want to disturb you while you were...busy. May I ask you something?" Recognizing the uniform and that smug face from the cheer competition nearly a year ago, Ophelia nodded, cautious about what this girl might try to start. "Right. Correct me if I'm wrong, but did I hear you shouting out...attack names during your routines?"

Ophelia nodded again, still on alert. "Yeah, I name my stunts myself. Why?"

Soleil watched the conversation, ready to jump in at the drop of a hat, but also swearing that that girl better not insult the "Ancient Pirouette Into Infinity."

"I see," the girl said. "So my mother was right." She outstretched one of her hands. "I should introduce myself. Name's Caeldori."

"Ophelia." It was with hesitation that she took Caeldori's hand, but once they shook, the redhead seemed to be the one who was more eager to escape her grasp. "Pardon me, but what exactly was your mother right about?"

Caeldori flashed a smile. "My mother said that if there was a blonde girl who shouted random names, she was probably going to be the daughter of her childhood friend."

"Oh, I see!" Ophelia smiled and bounced a bit. "A friend of my dad's is a friend of mine. Pleasure to meet you."

Caeldori's face fell into a stern expression. "I'm afraid you misinterpreted me. Just because our parents were friends doesn't mean we're going to be. I just wanted to let you know that my team's still going to kick yours to the curb at the cheer competition this year." Suddenly, her eyes widened and she clapped her hands together. "Oh hold on, it's coming back to me. Aren't you the one who hesitated at the competition last year?"

Ophelia glared at Caeldori, moving away from her and towards the gym. "Maybe I was. That's none of your business."

"Oh, of course it is," Caeldori laughed. "I wanted to thank you, actually. My peers said my perfect moves are what won for us, but I'm far from perfect. In fact, I don't think we would have won if you hadn't flinched or...had a spasm...or whatever it is you did. So thanks for that!"

Ophelia's face reddened and her hands balled up into fists, and that was when Soleil stepped in, jumping out from behind the desk and approaching the girls her hands up. "Alright ladies, let's be smart about this, alright?" Caeldori shot daggers at Soleil, but she remained undeterred. "Yeah, that means you, Cali—whoever."

"Caeldori," she corrected.

Soleil grabbed Ophelia's hand and started leading her back to the gym. "Whatever," she called back.

Once they had rejoined their squad, Ophelia sighed, leaning her head on Soleil's shoulder. "Thanks for interjecting, Soleil. I was about to deck that smug...ugh!"

"I know, that's why I stepped in." Soleil reached up and patted Ophelia's head affectionately (because she didn't think she could get away with anything more than that in public).

The game wrapped up, and the two different sports teams that rode home in that bus that night were in sour moods, the basketball boys because they lost, and the cheer squad because the story of Ophelia's confrontation in the gym lobby had gotten passed around.

Sophie got almost as angry on Ophelia's behalf as Ophelia herself did. "I can't believe that!"

"Yeah, what a sore winner," Percy mumbled.

"Don't fret," Laslow said. "If she is who she says she is, she got that smugness from her mother." He sighed and shook his head. "I know we drifted apart when she found a man in Hoshido, but I didn't think things had gotten that bad..."

"What was that, dad?" Soleil asked.

He snapped back into the present suddenly, stumbling over his words. "Er, that is to say, if she's anything like her mother, a nice humbling will shut her right up."

"Like when we beat them at the cheer competition this year!" Nina chimed in.

"Exactly," Laslow nodded. "Which means we'll train extra hard. Cheer competition training starts as soon as possible."

The squad cheered as the bus rumbled home, the seeds of determination sprouting within the squad. But none felt the enthusiasm more so than Ophelia and Soleil, who made it their priority to blow the Hoshido squad—and their smug redheaded member—out of the water.

Laslow, meanwhile, was certain of one thing, and that was that no matter how the competition went, it was gonna get ugly.

After Ophelia's less than stellar interaction with Caeldori, the cheer squad was ready to start training for the competition immediately. And with Laslow's words echoing in their mind, they arrived at the first practice after the game at Hoshido ready to practice until their legs fells off. However, when that practice turned out to be nothing more than the usual fare, people got confused. Laslow was quick to explain, "we're saving the competition training for next semester so nobody forgets anything too important over winter break."

It was a valid explanation, and the squad had no qualms accepting it, but Ophelia was so eager that trips to the gym she trained Soleil at became a once-a-week routine. Every Sunday, without fail, Ophelia would take the short drive and spend a couple hours training on her own, often repeating the very dance that caused her team to lose the year before. Once Soleil learned about this practice, she decided to tag along every once in a while. Though they didn't always go out to eat like the first time, Soleil would always refer to them as dates, and after a point, Ophelia stopped protesting.

Once the semester came to a close and the year started winding down, Ophelia decided her break from school would also do as a break from working herself so hard every week. When she told this to Soleil, she was sent a text that asked, "so we're not going out this Sunday?"

"Soleil? You do know what this Sunday is, right?" Ophelia responded. When she got an ignorant response, she sighed and typed out, "Soleil, this Sunday is Christmas!"

The utter astonishment that overcame Soleil when she realized she had completely forgotten the date because she was so wrapped up in spending time with her friend was...actually not as overwhelming as it should have been. In fact, if it were any other holiday, she would seriously consider asking to spend it with Ophelia as opposed to her own family.

The spring semester started at last (which was a sentence Soleil never thought would hold true), which meant it was time to start training for the competition. Laslow doubled down on the training and pushed the cheer squad farther than he had in many years. Many of his pupils struggled with the difficulty spike, but with her additional training that picked up right as the semester started, Ophelia didn't have many issues.

One morning, Inigo found Soleil busily grabbing her cheer uniform from the wash and shoving it into a bag. "You going training with Ophelia again?" He asked. Wordlessly, his daughter nodded, glancing around the room for anything she might have forgotten. After running her hand over Sarah the yellow headband to make sure it was in her hair, she nodded again, rushing past him on her way out. "Hey, whoa, whoa," he called after her, only slowing her down a bit. "Mind if I come today?"

A stunned Soleil turned to face her father slowly. "Excuse me?"

Inigo nodded and leaned against the wall. "Yeah, I want to see how you two do your extracurricular training. Besides, if the coach is there, he could give you hints as to what to be prepared for..."

After thinking on it for a few seconds, Soleil finally nodded her head. "Alright. If Ophelia's cool with it, I am. Let's go ask her."

With a smile, Inigo clapped his hands together. "Great. Let's go."

Soleil had doubts that Ophelia would allow for someone to tag along on their date (which was still totally a date, by the way), but those assumptions were swept right away when she asked the question and the response came from someone the back seat rather than the driver. "Sounds like great minds think alike!"

Inigo shrank back at the sound of the new addition to the conversation while Soleil looked to Ophelia for answers. "My dad decided he wanted to come too," she explained. "Something about wanting to see my form and if there's any way I can improve."

"Makes sense," Soleil said with a shrug. "Let's go, dad. Day's a wastin'!"

Hesitantly, Inigo climbed into the backseat of the car, allowing his daughter to get shotgun, but unfortunately sitting next to Owain in the process. "Hello, Inigo," the man said with his favorite goofy grin.

Inigo scoffed. "I'll let it slide this time, but when our daughters get in their uniforms, you call me Laslow like everyone else, alright?"

After Owain begrudgingly agreed to Inigo's terms, Ophelia got going and said, "I never did understand the name. Why Laslow and not Inigo?"

"Because too many students have referenced a movie I don't even particularly enjoy at me without taking me seriously," he explained. "I prefer Laslow because nobody can do that to Laslow."

Owain's jaw dropped and he looked to Inigo with indignation. "You don't like that movie?"

Inigo shrugged. "It's a bit overrated if you ask me. Sub-par at best."

Finally, the movie they were referring to clicked and Ophelia gasped. "I love that movie!"

"Of course you do," Inigo laughed. "If you had gone this many years without seeing it as Owain's daughter, I'd be surprised."

The conversation continued, Owain and Ophelia defending the classic tale of romance, deception and revenge, Inigo refusing to listen, and Soleil observing silently. The debate had just gotten heated when Ophelia pulled into the gym's parking lot and switched the car off. "Alright everyone, time to practice," she said cheerfully, grabbing her bag from in between the front seats and jumping out of the car. The gang ventured into the gym and, after letting the girls change, got to work. After their warm-up exercises, Soleil and Ophelia started going over the newest moves they had learned from practice. Once they had taken care of that, Laslow stepped in, giving them hints as to what to expect from coming practices and suggesting specific stunts for them to perform. While this was happening, Owain watched from nearby, nodding sagely at the sights he was seeing. Laslow took Owain's side with crossed arms and said, "so how are they doing for your tastes, oh great Odin Dark?"

Unable to hide his smirk from being referred to with his old stage name, Owain put his hands on his hips. "You have taught these girls well, my old friend. Their form is nearly flawless."

"Nearly flawless?" Laslow raised an eyebrow and pursed his lips. "I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."

"Yeah, there's a minor problem I've found." When prompted to continue, he said, "Their approach is too short. When you're performing, you are essentially telling a story to the audience, and what's a story without proper scene building? An approach that's too short strips the performance of the suspense that so often enthralled my viewers."

Laslow fought back a frown as he watched Owain nod as if _he_ were the coach! "You forget yourself, Owain. I'm the cheer coach here, so I call the shots."

Owain shrugged in response. "Hey, I'm not trying to tell you what to do, I'm just giving you suggestions."

"Fine, but don't expect me to take it to heart," Laslow scoffed, moving from Owain's side to continue instructing the girls. The day went on, and after several hours of intense practice, the girls decided it was time to wrap things up. Agreeing with the decision, Laslow clapped his hands together and said, "alright ladies, good practice today. You deserve a nice rest."

They changed and the group set off for their next destination, which happened to be Soleil and Inigo's house, despite Soleil's suggestions of getting dinner. "It would be like a double date, but without the date on your parts," she had said to her father.

"And our part," Ophelia reminded her. "Gods, Soleil, you are incorrigible." Everyone shared a laugh and the drive continued. Only a moment after the exchange, Ophelia was hit with a realization, which she acted on immediately. "So, dad, coach, why don't you two talk anymore?" She asked, knowing full well that they couldn't escape her questioning while they were still in the car. Plus, with several more minutes until they reached their destination, they had to answer or risk the longest awkward silence ever.

Owain sputtered and coughed, stumbling over his words in an attempt to avoid the answer, while Inigo calmly answered with, "life happens, and sometimes bonds are sacrificed for the sake of getting on with life."

This answer wasn't satisfactory for Ophelia. "Alright, but if you two were truly as good of friends as you say you were, you'd find a way to keep in touch despite hard times."

Owain sighed, nodding and looking to his old friend sadly. "She's right, you know. We shouldn't have drifted apart the way we did. We robbed our children of a valuable friendship they could have started a lifetime ago."

Inigo looked indignant, but when his mouth finally opened, he couldn't find the angry retort he was looking for. Finally, he deflated and said, "yeah...yeah, you're right."

Owain tapped his knee with his finger as he said, "you know, just because Severa cut all ties to us doesn't mean we have to drift apart too."

"She likes to be called Selena now," Inigo said flatly. "It says so on Facebook."

Owain laughed and nodded. "True, but my point stands."

"I guess it does," Inigo admitted.

Owain's lips turned up into a smile. "You know what else stands?"

"What's that?" Inigo asked, cautious about Owain's look.

"The approaches are too short."

He shared a laugh with the girls, who laughed despite not knowing the context of the joke. Inigo, however, was less pleased. "Damn it Owain," he snapped. "This is exactly why I stopped texting you!" He gasped and put his hands over his mouth as the laughter stopped abruptly.

Owain was quick to put the pieces together. "Wait...correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds to me like you stopped talking to me because of the cheer squad," he said.

Soleil and Ophelia looked at each other with wide eyes. They were getting somewhere now. Inigo remained silent, but eventually sighed and said, "Owain, do you remember when we were in the same cheer squad?"

"Sure do," Owain said with a nod. "It was tons of fun."

Inigo continued, "yes, but remember how we always fought over the smallest, stupidest things?"

Owain nodded with a smile. "All too well," he said. "So is that it? The great coach Laslow didn't want to fight with me over everything, so he cut me off?"

"But that doesn't make any sense," Soleil said, contributing to the conversation for the first time. "If he's not even the coach, how will you two fight?"

"Because I know that Owain would come to me with suggestions whenever he could," Inigo explained. "And not that I don't appreciate the thought, but it would lead to more fights and arguments, and that kind of stress is what caused us to lose all of our competitions."

Owain shook his head, sighing. "Inigo, is winning that important to you?"

"Just one first place trophy is all I ask," he said quietly.

The car fell silent, mostly because Ophelia had parked in front of their destination minutes ago, so the car wasn't running. Finally, Owain said, "Inigo, do you want to know why I don't mind that we lost?"

"Why?" Inigo asked.

Owain's hand shot up to his face, but he blushed when he realized this was neither the time or place. "The great Odin Dark was a very competitive man, that much is true, so why would he be fine with losing all four of the cheer competitions he competed in back in high school?" He paused, the rhetorical question understood by everyone else in the car. Finally, he said, "you see, I was fine with losing because, at the end of the day, I was still doing what I love with my best friend."

Inigo couldn't fight the smile that came to his face. "You're right."

"You see, I was elated to hear that you became a cheer coach," Owain continued. "But I won't come to you with ideas, because I know you're the final say when it comes to these things. And that's a promise, not from your friendly rival Odin Dark, but from your best friend Owain."

Inigo smiled and nodded. "You're right. I'm sorry, Owain. I guess I get my competitive nature from my father."

"Understood," Owain laughed, ruffing Inigo's blond hair. "My own father didn't pass me much except his luck and a neat hair color. But hey, let's keep in contact now that we've got this out of the way, yeah?"

Inigo nodded agreement. "Right."

Soleil and Ophelia smiled at each other, high-fiving at the same time as their fathers. "So let's get going, yeah dad?" Soleil asked.

Inigo looked out his window and raised his eyebrows in surprise at the sight of his house. "Huh. How long have we been here?"

"Long enough," Soleil laughed. After saying goodbye (and the adults promising to start texting each other again), the group split off there, Ophelia and Owain heading home while Soleil and Inigo settled in once they got inside. "Well that was a productive day in more ways than one," Soleil said proudly.

Inigo laughed and nodded. "I'll have to thank Ophelia for that at the next practice."

The months wore on, and practice got more intense as the final routine for the competition got fleshed out, added to, and perfected. On top of the difficult practices, Ophelia had to deal with the same senior duties that cost one of her squad mates so many practices last year. Somehow, through some stroke of luck and/or time management perfection, she found a way to do those duties without sacrificing practice time, and she shared that information with other seniors on her squad who might have needed that information. No one was more excited about her method than Percy, who was probably the only person on the squad who was taking the upcoming competition more seriously than Ophelia.

The competition crept closer and closer, but so did another very important event. An event so important that everyone at school was chattering endlessly about it. Everyone except Ophelia, who was far too busy thinking about cheerleading. In fact, she didn't even notice that this event was so close until she started to notice the bright, fancy dresses sitting in the storefronts, accompanied by the loud signs declaring sales and prices. When she finally had the full realization as to what was on the horizon while she was changing after practice one day, she may have panicked a little bit.

"Oh gods, the prom's two weeks from now!"

Soleil looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Uh, yeah? Haven't you been hearing everyone go on and on about it?"

"No, I've been too busy thinking about other things," Ophelia said quickly. "Man, I know I get lost in my own mind sometimes, but this is ridiculous. How could I let that get past me?"

"No idea," Soleil said with a laugh. "If you spaced out about prom, I'm guessing you also haven't been hearing everyone stressing about dates."

To illustrate Soleil's point, Nina chimed in with, "it's so hard! Why are there so many hot boys and only one stunningly attractive Nina?"

After sharing a laugh, Soleil and Ophelia looked back to each other, one stunned out of changing and therefore standing there in her cheer skirt and a bra. "So what are you gonna do about a date," asked the fully dressed one.

Ophelia shrugged and grabbed her shirt so she could continue changing. "I don't know if I'm gonna go, to be honest."

Soleil's gasp was enough to startle Ophelia into dropping her shirt, further preventing her from getting decent. "Excuse me? How could you skip out on prom? Did you go last year?"

Ophelia shook her head. "Nah, it snuck up on me then, too, so I skipped it."

Sophie shook her head and crossed her arms, finally contributing to the conversation. "Everyone should go to at least one of their proms. It's always so awesome!"

"Last year's was pretty cool," Soleil agreed. "I wish I had someone to go with last year, but you know."

"I have an idea," Nina said, moving to Soleil's side. She put a hand on her back and pushed her closer to Ophelia, causing the former to blush. "Why don't you two go together?"

Sophie nodded agreement, attempting to do the same to Ophelia, who protested that she wasn't even clothed enough for these shenanigans. "Nina's right. You two do get along really well. Wouldn't it just be poetic if two of the most important pieces of our comp routine just happened to go to prom as each others' dates?"

"Come on, Soleil, I've seen how you look at Ophelia," Nina insisted. "I know you've got it bad."

Now both girls were blushing up a storm thanks to this match-making. "I appreciate your care," Ophelia said. "But like I said, I don't even think I'm gonna go this year, so..."

Nina giggled and whispered, "you should tell Ophelia what the theme is this year," into Soleil's ear.

Soleil's eyes lit up and she broke away from Nina's probing arms, causing the girl to nearly stumble forward. "Thanks for the attempts, you guys, but I think the choice of who to go to prom with—or rather, whether to go at all—should be Ophelia's to make on her own."

Sophie sighed and took her hands off Ophelia's shoulder. "If you say so." When she was sure Ophelia wasn't looking at her, she flashed a thumb's up at Soleil, who laughed and shook her head. The girls got back to changing, Ophelia finally making herself decent, and left the locker rooms to head home.

When she got home and shared the news she had learned that day, her father had a very similar reaction to Soleil's. "Miss out on your _senior_ prom?"

"Uh...yeah?"

Owain shook his head sternly. "Ophelia, I know you're focused on your cheerleading, and I couldn't be happier for you, but prom is a big deal! It could be one of the most magical nights of your life, filled with adventure, romance, and...hopefully not anything beyond first base."

Ophelia's face immediately warmed up and she couldn't help but bark a laugh. "Dad! Oh my gods!" When he insisted he had a point, she contained her laughter and shrugged. "I dunno, it doesn't seem that important to me. I don't even know who I'd go with."

Owain shrugged. "You don't have to go with anyone romantically. You could just go with your friends."

"I guess that's true," Ophelia admitted. "I'll think about it." She gave her father a small wave and turned to head to her room.

"No pressure," he assured her before going back to his chores.

The next day, Soleil joined Ophelia's side during a passing period and elbowed her in the side. "So, have you made up your mind about prom yet?" She asked.

Ophelia shook her head and adjusted how she was holding her books. "Nope, not yet."

Soleil smirked and said, "well, have you learned what the theme is yet?" Ophelia shook her head, and Soleil knew she was about to make her day. "I bet you wouldn't pass up a space themed prom in a million years, cheerleading be damned."

Ophelia's eyes went so wide and her response was so instantaneous that Soleil wasn't even sure she heard the rest of the sentence. "Well if you had told me that days ago, it wouldn't have even been a question! I have to make myself present this year!"

However, Soleil wasn't done there, not by a long shot. Part two of her question was, "would you like to maybe go with me?"

Ophelia's first instinct was to dismiss this as one of Soleil's usual attempts at hooking up with her, but then she realized that going alone would invite a lot of unwarranted questions, so she smiled and nodded. "I don't see why not."

Soleil's smile was impossible to fight, and she pumped a fist into the air. "Aw, yeah! This relationship's going places now."

"Oh really?" Ophelia asked smugly. "It wasn't going anywhere when you were my first date, or my first kiss?"

"Well yeah, it did, but prom's a big deal," Soleil said without missing a beat. "I can't wait to see how you doll yourself up, cutie."

And doll herself up she did. The next week and a half was spent finding the perfect outfit, and once she had a dress in her possession, preparing became startlingly easy. She didn't think she would find a dress to match all of her miscellaneous starry, galaxy-clad accessories, but the dress all decked out in stars and green outlines that she ended up getting was a perfect match. She spent the nights before prom admiring the dress, trying to pick out constellations in its fabric. Unfortunately, the stars were all randomly placed and not based on anything real, but that just meant she could create her own constellations!

When her outfit was made and she was doing her hair the night of the big event, her father stood at the door to the bathroom, watching his daughter trying to figure out how to wear her head of thick, blonde hair. "Ophelia, may I suggest one last accessory for your stunning outfit tonight?"

"What is it, dad?" Ophelia didn't think her dad owned any space-related trinkets, but she felt curiosity tug at her, so she had to ask.

Owain was quick to produce a strange, ornate headpiece that had what looked like little doilies hanging from it. "I know it's not all covered in stars like everything else is, but this headpiece belonged to your grandmother, and I was wondering if you'd like to wear it."

Ophelia took it and examined it, placing it on her head to see how it would fit. The golden accents came off the white main piece and looped back, which gave Ophelia an idea. "This would make pigtails look really nice," she said with a smile. "You know dad, this is just what I needed. Thanks!"

After fussing with her hair and making sure the pigtails were placed properly, Ophelia lowered the piece onto her head, watching as the tiny white doilies framed her face in such a way that, in her opinion, enhanced her appearance significantly. "Wow, it looks great!"

Owain smiled, crossing his arms and nodding confidently. "You look just like your grandmother with that on. I'm glad you like it."

"Sure do!" Ophelia said. Then, she looked at her phone and saw that the time was about five minutes later than she had wanted to leave. "Oh no, I have to get going!"

Of course, she couldn't leave without her parents excitedly taking pictures of her outfit, but after that, she gave them quick hugs and shot out of the house like a bullet from a gun. When she finally pulled up in front of Soleil's increasingly familiar house, she shot her date a text and sat back, taking the moment to calm her frantic nerves, or at least attempt to. A moment later, Soleil climbed into the passenger seat and put her seatbelt on. They exchanged greetings, but couldn't quite take in each others' appearance due to the quickly fading light of day and the few minutes behind that they were. When they finally arrived, Soleil scrambled to get out, commanding Ophelia not to move from her spot. The explanation for this behavior came when she rounded the car and opened the driver's side door, bowing as she motioned for Ophelia to get out. "What kind of date would I be if I made you open all the doors yourself?" She asked.

Ophelia smiled and laced her arm through Soleil's. "Chivalry isn't dead after all," she joked as they headed towards the building.

"Of course not," Soleil responded. "You just gotta know where to look."

Once they were in some decent lighting, the girls finally took in their dates' wardrobes. Ophelia nodded at Soleil's simple pink dress, accented by a small jacket. Nothing was new about her hair, but that was alright, because it was pretty nice as it was. "You clean up nice," Ophelia said simply. "I like it."

Soleil, meanwhile, was stunned by Ophelia's dress. The way the stars sparkled and that familiar necklace charm gleamed in the light knocked her off her feet, and that was before she took in the adorable pigtails and fancy doilies surrounding her date's face. "Y-you...you look...wow. I mean, wow!"

Ophelia giggled cutely and lightly tugged at one of her pigtails. "I'll take that as a compliment."

Soleil nodded quickly. "As you should. You're just as stunning as ever. Man, I need to sit down already."

Ophelia laughed again and took Soleil's hand in hers. "Yeah, okay. You sit if you want, I'll go have fun."

Soleil followed Ophelia, squeezing her hand as she went. It reminded her of the end of the final comp routine, which ended with the two holding hands in a similar fashion, fingers not laced together, but rather squeezing the palm of the other hand. It wasn't the intimate form of hand holding Soleil was hoping would come with prom night, but she dismissed this as Ophelia habitually taking her hand like this because of cheer practice.

The girls were quick to find their cheer squad friends and strike up conversation. Ophelia's attention was a little divided because she was admiring how the prom committee decorated the venue, but she was just as present as she needed to be. The night was just as fun as her father and friends lead her to believe it would be, and she was grateful her date managed to convince her to make the trip.

Of course, the only way she could think of to repay this was to treat her date to a slow dance. Once a song suited to such a thing started playing while the girls were sitting at a table with their friends, a gasp echoed throughout the crowd, and Soleil perked up, a second passing before she bit her lip and resumed whatever it was that she was doing. Ophelia smiled at her and took a stand, motioning for her date to do the same by extending her hand. When Soleil grabbed her hand, she pulled her along onto the dance floor. They faced each other, faces reddening, and Ophelia put her hand on Soleil's shoulder, getting a hand on her hip in response. They grasped hands (again, using the non-romantic hold they used during cheer) and started to sway to the music. Ophelia couldn't contain her laughter at how flustered Soleil was getting, while the latter was trying to think of something to say. As the song continued, Ophelia said, "you know, this is usually where I would probably think of something poetic to say about stars and us dancing under them, but..."

"That would probably ruin the moment," Soleil said with a smile.

Ophelia nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."

Soleil giggled and tightened her grip on both Ophelia's waist and her hand. "Let's just enjoy this, shall we?"

The girls nodded agreement and fell silent for the rest of the song. It started to wind to a close, and the girls felt like it was only right to just kind of lean in, and... Soleil's eyes fluttered shut and Ophelia did the same, as their lips inched ever closer to each other...

And then the song changed to one of Ophelia's old favorites. Her eyes shot open and she quickly changed her face's trajectory. She pecked Soleil's cheek and pulled back, bouncing to the song's catchy tune. Soleil was disappointed that the mood had changed so quickly, but hiding it wasn't too terribly difficult, considering Ophelia's eagerness to dance to this song, pigtails and necklace bouncing as she did. They did their best at dancing to the hit pop song and got pretty into it, all things considered. At one point, the girls turned and hip-checked each other, which was quite a lot of force when a cheerleader did it. One girl won out, and Ophelia stumbled to the side, barely managing to catch herself on Percy, who happened to be standing nearby. "You okay?" Soleil asked.

Ophelia caught her breath and struggled to her feet with Percy's help. "Yeah, I'm fine. What a lucky break that Percy was there."

"That's me," Percy said proudly. "Try not to fall over again though, okay? There's no guarantee that I'll be around next time."

Ophelia laughed and brushed a bang out of her face. "Right. Thanks."

Time passed and the festivities started to die down. Around the time they were announcing the prom royalty (which neither of the girls cared about), Soleil started to notice something off about Ophelia. She couldn't put a finger on why, but her date looked different for some reason. When she asked about it, Ophelia shrugged, unsure of what she was talking about.

The night came to an end, and as people were starting to leave for the night, the cheer squad that attended sat at a table, watching the crowds leave. They were used to sticking around after events, so it felt like business as usual, except now they weren't wearing revealing little skirts.

Percy slipped his shoes off and sighed as he watched the crowd disperse. Meanwhile, Ophelia fell back on a recently formed habit of hers, her hand shooting to her neck to play with the little trinket her father gave her about a year ago. However, all her hand was met with was skin. Her eyes widened and she nearly punched herself in the throat when she asked, "where is it?"

"Where's what?" Soleil asked, vaguely worried about Ophelia's sudden panic.

"My necklace, it's gone!" Ophelia moved her hand to reveal a bare neck, and Soleil gasped. "Where did it go? I had it, I swear!"

Soleil nodded, distinctly remembering the necklace hanging from her neck mere hours ago. "Here, since everyone's leaving, let's look for it."

When Ophelia nodded, Percy joined her side. "I'll look too! Might as well, right?"

The other cheer girls present nodded agreement, and the cheer squad got to work, all combing the dance floor for Ophelia's missing trinket. After about five minutes of searching, Soleil sighed and felt something in her gut. Or rather, her bladder. After alerting her date that she was going to duck out for a moment, she headed to the restroom.

Not long after the search party temporarily dropped a member, Percy went back to the table they started from and put his shoes back on, ready to have them on again. He slipped one foot in its shoe and recoiled when something in the shoe pinched him. "Ah, what the...?" He knelt down and dug around in his shoe to search for the disturbance. He produced a small blue emblem that looked vaguely familiar. "Hey Ophelia," he called. "Is this it?"

Ophelia rushed to his side and looked at the object in his hand. Her eyes lit up and she nodded eagerly. "Yeah, this is it! Where did you find it?"

Percy motioned to his shoe sitting on the floor. "It was in there. Musta fallen in my shoe when you fell on me."

Ophelia nodded, checking the pendant to see that it was no longer connected to anything. "Right, that makes sense. You'd think I'd notice my necklace snapping sooner, but whatev—oop!" Ophelia dropped it again, laughing as she watched it bounce on the ground. She knelt down to grab it and made sure it was unharmed.

"Hey, be more careful," Percy laughed. "I just found that for you after all." Once Ophelia had stashed the newly found object in her purse, he offered her his hand and helped her to her feet.

When she was pulled to a standing position, their faces came entirely too close to each other for comfort, and viewed from the wrong angle, it looked almost as if they had shared a quick kiss, which caused Percy's face to redden once he realized just how close they had gotten.

Unfortunately, Soleil happened to walk back into the room at just that unfortunate angle, and bore witness to something that looked horribly incriminating.

* * *

 **Yup, it's _that trope_ time! You know the one I'm talking about. I'm not sure right now, but if writing the next chapter goes to plan, the chapter that goes up next Wednesday should be the last one. Who knows though. We'll see how it goes!**


	5. What About Percy?

What went wrong? Ophelia wasn't the most observant person at her best, but even she could tell that after prom, the atmosphere during cheer practice changed dramatically. It could have been the stress of the upcoming competition, or it could have been a reluctance to get back to work after a fun dance and a weekend that got extended thanks to said dance. Still, neither of those possibilities explained Soleil's behavior. The girl who had been so stoked to go to a dance with Ophelia mere days ago was now distant, cold and silent towards her. Texts went ignored, pleas for an explanation were met with silence, or something said to another girl on the squad. During the end of the routine, when they were required to hold hands, her grip changed from holding on for dear life to a much more relaxed version, which lead to several instances of the two failing the finale and eating floor mat.

Everything finally came to a boiling point after one particularly disastrous attempt that ended in a bloody nose for Ophelia. The normally bubbly girl stomped into the locker room furiously. "Alright, what's the big idea?" She demanded, jabbing a finger in Soleil's face angrily.

Soleil narrowed her eyes. "What big idea?"

"Don't act like you didn't just _drop_ me," Ophelia snapped. "What's wrong with you? It's like you just stopped caring about doing well!"

Soleil snorted before turning away. "Sorry, I can't take you seriously with a wad of toilet paper stuck up your nose."

With a huff, Ophelia turned away to continue changing, and the conversation was done there.

So what happened? What could have possibly gone wrong to make Soleil so angry with her? She didn't understand, and her father was just as in the dark as she was. However, she did think of a way her dad could make himself useful in solving this mystery. "Hey, maybe you could ask her dad for me? He should know something, at least."

Owain snapped his fingers excitedly. "Great idea, Ophelia! I'll text him right away!"

Unfortunately, this plan bore no fruit either. Inigo was completely clueless as to what could have gotten into Soleil, and he was starting to get worried, since he learned something was wrong through someone else entirely. His attempt at resolving the issue came in the form of his beginning-of-practice speech one day. "Alright everyone, the comp is just around the corner. In fact, this time a week from now, we will be done with the whole affair. Whether we'll be coming back with a trophy, with four giant stuffed animals, or both, is up to your performance next Friday afternoon. Before we start for today, I have three reminders. One, as always is that—"

He and the squad said, at the same time, "cheerleading is a sport," and he alone continued, "very good! Now, my second reminder will be just as familiar, so I won't waste too much time on it. As usual, remember to keep smiling. Now, this third and final reminder could prove vital to your performance. The key component to a routine going off without a hitch is trust. A cheer squad without complete trust is one that loses competitions, so if there's any bad blood between any two members, you have precisely one week to make up and put water under the bridge. Alright, now with all that said, it's time to start practice. Let's go!"

During the final part of Laslow's speech, Ophelia shot a pointed look at Soleil, who pretended not to notice. After practice that day, it was time to confront her one more time. This time, Ophelia did it in the midst of changing, thinking that maybe Soleil would listen to her if she wasn't wearing a shirt. "Alright Soleil," she started, a woman on a mission. "You heard what coach said. What's your problem with me and how can I fix it?"

Soleil shrugged. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she said coldly.

Ophelia pursed her lips and crossed her arms sternly. "You know damn well what I'm talking about, and whatever it is, we need to fix it right now. I'm not losing this comp because of some temper tantrum."

The corner of Soleil's mouth ticked down into a frown for a split-second, but she managed to control her expression when she turned to Ophelia to say, "nothing's wrong at all. Now, if you excuse me, I'm going home."

She tried to push past Ophelia, but didn't make it far before being stopped by a stern finger prodding her forehead. "You're not going anywhere until we talk this out," Ophelia insisted. "You're gonna lose this for all of us, so we need to fix your attitude right now."

Finally, the anger that had been building in Soleil burst out. "How about you work on _your_ attitude," she snapped, hand moving up her head to her headband. "Come talk to me again when you're worried about Soleil and not the stupid competition, Ophelia Dusk." The last words were said with all the venom she could muster and punctuated by Sarah, the yellow headband she'd been given so long ago, hitting the ground at their feet.

A tense moment passed, and Ophelia's face fell as the anger subsided to be replaced by confusion. "...Soleil?"

"I'm going home."

After Soleil pushed past Ophelia and made haste out of the locker room, all the girls that were left struggled to make sense of this exchange. "What did you _do_?" Nina asked.

Ophelia swallowed hard, struggling to fight back tears. "I...I don't know." She picked up Sarah and sighed, noting the perfect condition it had been returned to her in. After storing it in her backpack, she put her shirt on and left, still half in her uniform. If it were any other day, the girls would have poked fun at her for leaving in that miniskirt, but the locker room remained as silent as a tomb.

The last weekend before the comp was supposed to be the final extra-curricular training session, but Ophelia couldn't bring herself to leave the house. What was the point if she was going to be going alone? She already had everything down as well as she was gonna get it alone, and nobody had the time to go to the gym with her, so she spent the time trying to relax at home. This was easier said than done, as the thought of Soleil persisted, and with it came the confusion as to what she could possibly be angry about.

The final week of practice brought a last-second change to the routine, but no improvements. However, Ophelia was hopeful that a conveniently scheduled pep rally on the day before would help things a little. After a simple routine, the crowd cheered as the cheer squad lined up to face them. The microphone was passed off to Laslow, who greeted the crowd with a smile and a wave. "Thank you for your warm smiles today, my friends. I'm very glad we could perform for you today, as tomorrow is a very special day for my cheer squad. Tomorrow, we have a very important cheer competition, and we're going in swinging. We hope your kind thoughts are with us as we venture to the Valla theme park to do our very best." He paused to allow for applause, and when the crowd calmed, he said, "and rest assured, we will do everything in our power to beat the Hoshido squad _into the ground_."

The gym erupted in applause, and the pep rally continued as the cheerleaders went back to the bleachers. Once it had wrapped up and the students were filing out of the gym, Laslow motioned for the squad to hang back. "Alright everyone," he said once the coast was clear. "I would be inclined to say that we're still practicing despite the pep rally letting you out of school early, but I honestly don't think there's anything left to cover through practice. I will see you all here bright and early tomorrow morning, and I'm going to hope any conflicts..." A pause to shoot a pointed look at Soleil and Ophelia before continuing, "will be resolved by then."

Everyone went their separate ways then, and the longest night of Ophelia's life loomed over her. She used every method she could think of to relax, but everything she came up with failed miserably. Surprisingly, this night was different from the same one the previous year in one very specific way. Instead of her thoughts constantly going back to the competition, she caught herself constantly thinking about Soleil. But why would she spend so much time worrying about the girl who yelled in her face and mistreated the headband she was so kindly given?

Then again, she did treat Sarah perfectly up until then...

Ophelia was starting to understand, but there was nothing she could do about it until the next day.

It was gonna be a long one.

The next morning, Owain opened Ophelia's door and turned her light on, being sure to make as much noise as possible while he did. "Alright, it's time! Are you ready to go?"

Ophelia blinked awake and looked at her dad, confused. "Uh, I will be...dad, you weren't this excited last year." She had the thought to look to her phone for the time, and gasped when it was about ten minutes later than she had wanted to wake up. "Oh no! I'm late!"

"No you're not," Owain assured her. "We're right on time!"

"We're...?"

Owain smiled and held his hand up proudly. "I asked Inigo, and he said we can skip meeting up at the school while I'm driving you!"

Ophelia gasped, suddenly fully awake. "You're going with us?"

"I sure am!" Owain said with a proud nod. "I'm just as excited as you are! Now get dressed and let's go!"

Ophelia laughed and sat up in bed, rubbing at her eye. "Alright dad. Thanks for coming today."

The best part about riding to Valla with her dad was that she didn't have to suffer through the painfully awkward ride with Soleil and the rest of the squad. However, about half way to their destination, she started to miss Soleil.

Again.

What was wrong with her? There was a comp to win!

Finally, everyone arrived at the theme park and Owain pulled up next to the van that the school allowed Inigo to use for the day. Ophelia watched as the cheer squad poured out of the van and prepared to explore the park. Before she could get out herself, Owain put a hand on her shoulder. "Before you go, have this." He dug into his pocket and produced the necklace he had given her exactly a year ago. "I finally got around to getting a new chain for your grandmother's charm."

"Oh yay!" Ophelia happily bowed her head and allowed her father to drape it over her neck. "Thanks dad."

Owain smiled and ruffled Ophelia's hair, causing her to giggle. "Where would Ophelia Dusk be without her mother's power channeling charm?"

Ophelia thanked her dad and they got out to join the group waiting just outside. "Alright, ladies—and Percy," Laslow said, pocketing the van keys. "Go wild, and be sure to meet back here at one thirty sharp."

The squad nodded and dispersed. Ophelia found herself in the same group that she was in last year, which would have been good, except for the fact that Soleil was still not speaking to her. Nina, Sophie, and Percy did their best to dissolve the tension, but to no avail. "Hey, I have an idea," Percy said after a good amount of time spent walking silently through the park. "Let's play some of those games! Maybe I could win another dragon to go with Ace!"

Ophelia's spirits lifted and she nodded agreement. "I'd be okay with that."

Percy turned to find a game with a suitable dragon to win, and Ophelia looked to Soleil for her reaction. She raised her eyebrows when that reaction was an upturned nose and a turn to walk away. "Soleil?" She asked.

"What? Aren't you gonna watch Percy win you another animal?" Soleil snapped, not turning back.

Ophelia wore a look of confusion. "Uh, no? I wanted to say I noticed you're wearing your grandmother's headband." Soleil's hand shot up to the piece in question and traced one of the golden lines embroidered on it. "I wanted to say I'm glad you found it."

The hurt in Ophelia's voice caused Soleil to turn to face her once more, a bit sheepish. "I...I see. My dad kept it safe the whole time. It wasn't ever really lost."

"It looks just as nice on you now as it always has," Ophelia continued.

"Thanks," Soleil said flatly. "Now go spend time with Percy."

Frustrated with being civil when she was clearly not going to get the same courtesy in return, Ophelia stomped toward Soleil and grabbed her wrist. "I don't want to spend time with Percy, I want to spend time with you!"

"No you don't." Soleil said it like she had run out of breath, and before Ophelia could react, she wrenched her wrist from her grip and ran off, further into the park.

"Soleil!" Ophelia broke out into a run, using the flashes of pink hair in between the crowds to keep track of her friend. They weaved through crowds and past rides until Ophelia could barely see the sign for the park's exit looming in between a couple of other signs for rides. Finally, she managed to catch up, grabbing Soleil's wrist with a grip only an angry cheerleader could manage just as they were passing by a line of people waiting for something. Whatever it was wasn't important, because Ophelia could only focus on the tears in Soleil's eyes when she turned around and demanded to be let go. "No," she snapped. "I don't know what your problem with me is, but we're not moving from this spot until it's resolved, alright?"

Despite what she said, they shuffled forward out of habit when the line they happened to be in moved forward. Neither of them seemed to notice, as Soleil spoke unimpeded. "Why do you care what my problem with you is?" Before Ophelia could respond, she said, "oh wait, because of the stupid competition! You don't care about me or my feelings because of me, you only care because we might not win the comp if I'm mad at you."

"That's not true," Ophelia said indignantly. "Why would you think that?"

Suddenly, she realized exactly why Soleil thought that. Over the past few months, Ophelia had been so singularly focused on the comp that she didn't even pay attention to other things. Opportunities to hang out somewhere other than the gym, fun and non-cheerleading related conversations, even prom almost slipped past her completely because of the comp! As they absentmindedly moved forward in line once more, she looked to her feet, defeated. Soleil snatched her wrist back and crossed her arms. "You see it now, don't you?"

Ophelia sighed. "I do. I didn't realize..."

"I'm sure you didn't," Soleil said flatly.

"I guess I let Ophelia Dusk take over a little too much," Ophelia admitted.

"A little."

Ophelia sighed, ashamed of herself. However, this was an opportunity to get back on course. "So is that why you're mad at me?"

Soleil shook her head. "Not the original reason, no, but it's part of it."

"Then what's wrong?" Ophelia clasped her hands together, pleading for an explanation.

Soleil shook her head as the girls moved forward again. "You really don't know? You thought you could just do something like that without me finding out?"

"Do what?" Ophelia asked. "What did I do?"

Soleil rolled her eyes. "Ugh, of course you 'don't know.' I'm not even convinced you're still thinking about my feelings or the comp, to be honest."

"Of course I care about your feelings," Ophelia insisted. "We just went over this." As they moved forward once more, something clicked in her mind. For whatever reason, a rush of emotions overcame her, and the world seemed to come into focus. Suddenly, everything over the past year or so made sense. The refusal to outright reject Soleil's advances, the lingering thoughts of her name or her face at inappropriate times, and now, the concern for her that weren't present a year ago. All these feelings were given a name when they passed a sign that had that name on it, so now Ophelia only had to covey that name to Soleil. "Look Soleil, I really do care about this...about you! And not just because of the competition. I want to know why you're mad at me because, well, I—"

"Let's keep the line movin'!" A voice suddenly calling to the girls startled them into stepping forward again and actually take note of where they were and what ride they had been waiting in line for without realizing it.

However, the name of the ride had already passed them by, so they couldn't figure that out until they were escorted to the seat and given the usual warning about keeping their hands and feet in the ride at all times. They looked around, noted the giant red hearts surrounding the ride, the boat they were sitting in, and the giant heart-shaped entrance they started drifting towards. Both girls blushed as the realization hit them. "Did we really accidentally get in line for the Tunnel of Love?" Soleil cried. "How stupidly cliché!"

However, the girl next to her, who was a sucker for storytelling clichés, saw this as a sign. No, a confirmation of the sign she had already received. Now was the time. As the ride got started and the romantic music got louder, the turned to Soleil and took her hands in hers. "Soleil! I really want to know what I did wrong! Tell me right now."

"Why do you care so much?" Soleil asked. "And is this really the right time?"

"This is the perfect time," Ophelia responded. One of her hands twitched our of nervous habit, but she continued regardless. "I miss you, Soleil."

"Really?"

A quick nod, and she continued, "I miss talking to you. I miss working out with you, I miss your smile, I miss the way you would hit on me, even when I was in a bad mood or not fully-dressed, I miss how you say my name, and I miss your laughter. I want it all back in my life. I want _you_ back in my life."

Soleil's blush was not going away, and every word Ophelia spoke only ensured it stayed longer. "Wh-why?"

The sign for the ride they were riding had given Ophelia the answer to that question, so she said, without hesitation, "I love you, Soleil."

For a few seconds, the girls looked each other in the eyes, completely silent. The sounds of the ride felt like they were miles off, and all of existence for both girls boiled down to the one sitting next to them, looking them in the eye. When Soleil could find no trace of a lie in Ophelia's eyes, she stuttered out a reply. "B-but, what about Percy?"

"What _about_ him?" Ophelia asked. "Soleil, I just confessed my love to you and you ask about Percy?"

"A-at prom," Soleil responded. "You kissed him."

Ophelia raised an eyebrow before remembering the incident of Pecy helping her to her feet. "Oh! Oh gods, that wasn't what that was at all! I stumbled and he helped me to my feet again. He just didn't realize we would be so close when I was standing straight again."

A feeling in Soleil's gut told her to run away and bury her face in a blanket for the rest of her life. "Oh...so you didn't kiss him?"

Ophelia shook her head confidently. "No lip contact was made, no sir."

"Wow, now I feel really stupid," Soleil admitted. "I thought you had gone and kissed someone else after taking me to prom, so my emotions kind of took over. ...And then I spent so long trying to hate you! Oh my gods, Ophelia, please forgive me!" She pulled Ophelia into a hug, which was returned without hesitation. As she sobbed on Ophelia's shoulder, she felt a hand pat her back soothingly.

Ophelia softly shushed her friend. "Hey, it's alright. I understand. And I forgive you."

Soleil sniffled. "Really?"

"Absolutely." As she said this, Ophelia moved her hand from patting Soleil's back to combing through her hair.

A calmed Soleil sighed happily. "What a relief. Thank you so much."

Ophelia responded with an apology of her own. "I'm sorry I got so obsessed with the comp. If I hadn't gotten so carried away, we could have resolved this so much sooner."

Soleil nodded, not wishing to separate from Ophelia ever. "It's alright. I remember how devastated you were that we lost last year."

Soleil could feel Ophelia's body shift as she chuckled in her arms. "Yeah, I wish I could forget how much I cried like a little baby."

"It's alright," Soleil assured her. "It meant I got to play with your hair and not get questioned for it."

Ophelia broke the hug (saddening both girls in the process) and looked to Soleil, astonished realization gracing her face. "That was you?"

Soleil nodded sheepishly. "Is that okay?"

"It's fine, I just can't believe you were wiling to do something so nice for me when we barely knew each other," Ophelia said. "That's really sweet of you."

Soleil gave Ophelia a warm smile. "I guess that goes to show just how long I've cared about you."

Ophelia tugged at her own hair softly. "Hah, you're gonna make me blush."

"But that's okay, right?" Soleil asked, playfully elbowing Ophelia's side. When she got a nod in response, she said, "why is that okay?"

"Oh, you know why," Ophelia told her.

"I do, but I like hearing you say it," Soleil countered.

Now Ophelia really was blushing, but she didn't fight it. "I love you, Soleil."

Finally, Soleil got to say the words she'd wished she could say for so long. "I love you too, Ophelia."

The girls shared a smile, and a scene from prom played out again. The girls felt like it was only fitting to repeat the part where they leaned in, eyes fluttering, and lips inching ever closer...

Finally, _finally_ , their lips met in the couple's first real kiss. Soleil wrapped her arms around Ophelia, enjoying the heavenly feeling of Ophelia's lips on hers so much, she wished it would never end.

Ophelia, likewise, enjoyed the kiss much more than the surprise one she had gotten all those months ago, so it took until the light that was the end of the Tunnel of Love inching ever closer to them to finally pry the girls apart. The ride came to an end and once Ophelia and Soleil hopped off the boat, it was time to find their friends again. They found Nina, Sophie, and Percy finishing up at the parlor games, each one holding a huge stuffed animal in their arms. "I only won three this year," Percy reported. "And no dragons to be found."

"It's okay," Ophelia said. "I don't need one."

Nina nodded towards Soleil and Ophelia's interlocked arms. "So, did you two make up?"

"I sure hope so," Sophie said, shifting the giant stuffed dolphin in her arms.

"Yeah, it's all good," Soleil said. "We just needed to talk it out alone, is all."

The other girls (and Percy) gave Ophelia and Soleil a nod, and the group continued with their day.

Now that Ophelia had realized her long dormant feelings, and Soleil had gotten a huge misunderstanding cleared up, they didn't even care about the competition anymore, and the rest of the day was going to be perfect, regardless. This was the perfect ending to a decidedly less than perfect love story...

* * *

...Except there was still a competition (that they both cared very much about) to win! They did still care, but Ophelia was starting to think that maybe losing wouldn't be _so_ terrible with Soleil at her side.

That is, she thought that until a dreadfully familiar head of red hair confronted her group with crossed arms, a smug expression, and the same posse of cheerleaders she had last year.

"Oh, hello Caledor," Soleil said with a dismissive handwave.

"Caeldori," the girl corrected. "Don't even pretend you forgot."

The tall blonde girl with a dark highlight bounced and threw a hand into the air. "Hey, they don't know all our names! We should introduce ourselves!"

"Not the time, Selkie," Caeldori growled. "Ignore her. I wanted to stop by and say good luck today. I know the delicate one could use the well wishes."

"Hey, I am not delicate!" Ophelia protested.

The fragment of Hoshido's squad burst into laughter as Ophelia's face heated up. "You keep telling yourself that, sweetheart," the orange-haired boy said.

Now it was Soleil's turn to get indignant. "Hey, the only one allowed to call her sweetheart is me. ...And that's if she's okay with it."

The boy shrugged, placing his arms on his hips. "Fine, whatever. I just call her that because I like sweets."

The green-haired girl behind him cut into the conversation with, "you don't need to explain yourself, Asugi. Besides, why would you be into her?"

"Thanks, cousin," Asugi said flatly.

"What's wrong with me?" Ophelia spat.

The girl with pink hair and stars in her eyes cleared her throat, and Ophelia's warning not to say anything was cut off when she dished out an impromptu haiku. "She's plain and from Nohr. Asugi's not into blondes. Tiny breasts to boot."

The Hoshido squad laughed again, and now all the Nohr girls (and Percy) were angry. "Hey, you're one to talk!" Soleil snapped.

"Bringing looks into this?" Percy said. "That sounds like what you do when you know you've lost."

"Oh please," Asugi scoffed. "We've gone how many years without losing to your school? This year won't be any different."

The annoying haiku girl spat another verse. "Losers always lose. The unavoidable truth. You'll cry yourselves home." Then, she barked a laugh and reached into her purse. "Oh! Damn, these are good. I need to write these down for later." She produced a notepad and a pencil and hastily started scribbling down her masterpieces.

"Be sure to write down the one about boobs twice," Caeldori said with a laugh. "That one was my favorite."

"Careful, Caeldori," Soleil said, crossing her arms. "Calling the kettle black, much? You're flat as hell, too!"

Caeldori's face flushed and she took a step forward menacingly, but before he could say or do anything, the girl with the poems burst out into laughter so uncontrollable, she accidentally snapped her pencil. "What's so funny, Mitama?" Caeldori demanded.

After collecting herself, Mitama said, "that was a perfect haiku."

"It was?" Soleil asked. Instead of waiting for an answer, she shook her head and placed her hands on her hips. "I mean, yeah! Of course it was."

"You're supposed to be on our side!" Caeldori snapped, Mitama now clutching her stomach in laughter.

"Careful," Asugi's apparent cousin said. "You're using the tone that makes your dad tell you that your mother is showing."

Caeldori stomped her foot, obviously flustered by the comparison being brought up. "Ugh, whatever. We're still winning today, and there's nothing you guys can do about it. Let's go, girls. And Asugi."

Soleil nodded. "So she can come up with good ideas. We should go too, girls. And Percy." With that, the pieces of the squads separated, both with renewed determination to win the comp.

Which, they realized with horror, was starting in a matter of minutes. After a frantic scramble to the front gates, the cheer squad prepared themselves for that fated competition. Owain was quick to find his daughter and give her all the well wishes he could muster. "So, what's your ultimate move name this year?"

Ophelia smiled and held a hand to her face dramatically. "It's better this year. My ultimate move this time around has been called Love's Explosive Extension!"

Owain laughed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Short, simple, and not named after me. Very well done! You'll knock 'em dead, my sweet." After planting a kiss on her forehead, he gave Laslow a quick handshake and disappeared into the crowd. Laslow turned to the squad and clapped his hands together. "Alright everyone, let's take a moment to remember the first rule of cheerleading. Now remind me what that was again?"

If this were any other instance, Soleil would have teased him about feigning ignorance, but instead, she said, "cheerleading is a sport," along with all the other girls. In fact, she repeated it the loudest, which caused Ophelia to look at her with a smile. "Did I do good?" She whispered.

Ophelia nodded with a smile. "You've come a long way," she said proudly.

Laslow continued, not noticing the exchange. "Now, take a moment to remind me of the second rule. This one will be vital to winning today, so say it extra loud."

"Always remember to smile!" was the cheer squad's response.

Laslow smiled warmly and nodded. "Alright girls, and Percy, let's go out there and kick some tail."

After months and months of training, everyone knew the routines for the day by heart, and with the last week or so being more difficult due to strained relations, Soleil and Ophelia did much better now that they were on good terms, and it showed. For the first few rounds, the other schools in attendance got knocked out with ease, so, as usual, it came down to Hoshido and Nohr's squads duking it out for first place. Just before the final performance of the day, the girls could hear the loud, pop music playing as the Hoshido girls (and Asugi) put on their ultimate routine and Laslow addressed them one last time. "Okay, you remember the detail I changed, right?"

The girls this applied to nodded. "The longer approach, right?" Sophie said.

Laslow nodded quickly. "Right. That could do i—" Suddenly, the music for the Hoshido routine changed, and Laslow's eyes lit up. "You're kidding me," he mumbled.

"What happened?" Soleil asked, trying to listen to the music.

Laslow's face lifted as he said, "they reused music from another school's routine! That always gets points docked. Now, I'm not saying we _should_ mess up, but we definitely have a little more leeway than we did up until, oh, five seconds ago." The girls nodded and heard the music die down, followed by uproarious applause (which made a select few feel nervous). They scrambled to get ready, and Laslow called, "remember the longer approach!"

During the frantic scramble to get ready, Ophelia found a very visibly nervous Soleil and put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "You okay?" She asked.

Soleil hesitantly nodded, which told conveyed everything pretty well. "I'm just nervous. That's a big crowd, and those were some loud applause."

"You can do this," Ophelia assured her. "And I'll be here with you." After planting a quick kiss on her lips, she scurried off to her starting position and was quickly replaced with Laslow.

"Da—er, coach," Soleil said quietly. "What if I'm not good enough?"

Laslow knelt down and put his hands on Soleil's shoulders. "Soleil, my sweet, I haven't been a very good coach for you, so right now, I'm your father."

"What do you mean?" Soleil asked.

Inigo shook his head. "I'm sorry I was so hard on you and your squad this year, but always know that I am here for you, and I am so proud of you."

"Thanks," Soleil said with a nod.

Inigo ran his hand over Soleil's headband and said, "and your grandmother's smiling down on you, and will continue to, no matter what happens here today."

Soleil nodded again. "Right. I love you, dad."

"Love you too, sweetie," Inigo said, kissing her forehead.

The transition from Inigo to coach Laslow was instant, as he pat her shoulder and said, "now knock 'em dead!" He scurried off the stage just in time for the Nohr squad's introduction to wrap up, leaving the stage perfect for the squad to run out and start their routine. Ophelia's eyes went immediately to her father, which made her feel more confident in her performance. Soleil, meanwhile, had spotted Owain, but was more curious about the blood-red head of hair sitting right next to him. The hair color looked familiar, and the woman's sour face looked like it had frozen that way long ago. The thought of Caeldori drove her to do her best, and with those two driving forces, the girls knocked their performance out of the park. All that was left to do was hope that the rest of the squad pulled off their parts correctly.

The routine was long, and pulling it off all without pause was something the squad had only done once or twice, so it ended up being more taxing than they thought it would be, but it was all worth it when the finale came upon them. The music swelled, Ophelia and Soleil both called the name of Love's Explosive Extension, the squad gathered in the middle, and lifted the two girls into the air. There, sharing the top of the small pyramid and holding hands tightly with fingers interlaced, they made their final pride call and stayed in place, smiling for the immense round of applause.

The girls met the ground again (with their feet and not their faces, thankfully), and now it was time to wait out the judging. Just like the previous year, the squads and their coaches shared the stage, looking out at the crowd as the judges made their final decision. The Hoshido coach with the messy green hair shook hands with Laslow and nodded at him civilly, and Ophelia caught herself wondering how two coaches of rival teams could possibly even look at each other at such a dramatic moment. Just as that thought left her mind, she herself looked to the Hoshido squad to see a smug looking Caeldori smiling at her condescendingly. If she weren't in front of a crowd that included her father, she would have flipped the girl off, but instead, she just turned back to face the crowd without changing her expression and waited for the judges to finally announce the winner.

Finally, in the midst of the palpable tension looming in the air, the trophy was given, for the first time in ten years, to the Nohrian cheer squad. The squad erupted into cheers and starting passing hugs around while Caeldori's face fell (as did the very similar one in the crowd). In the midst of the celebrations, Ophelia grabbed Soleil in a tight hug and kissed her cheek. It had been a long road for everyone, but there they stood, being the first cheer squad in many years to win Nohr the competition, and one could tell it had been a while just by watching the ecstatic fervor of the girls. And Percy.

The squad met up with Owain in the parking lot, and he lifted his daughter off the ground with a hug. "You did it!" He cheered.

"I know!" Ophelia giggled as her father spun her around, and when he set her down and kissed her forehead, she smiled at him warmly. "Thanks for believing in me."

At this, Soleil looked to her own father meaningfully, nodding that she shared that sentiment. In response, he ruffled her hair with a smile.

"I always knew you had it in you," Owain said. "No thanks are necessary...from you."

Laslow sighed, knowing what was coming. "Here we go..."

Owain smirked and held offered his hand to Laslow. "Congrats on the win, Coach Laslow." When Laslow took his hand, he pulled the coach close and said smugly, "and you're welcome for the idea of the longer approach."

Everyone shared a laugh; even coach Laslow, who couldn't help it when he saw his old friend's face. "Thanks, my friend."

"Speaking of which," Owain said, letting go of Laslow's hand. "While we were waiting for the comp to start, I found an old friend of ours."

"Oh yeah?" Laslow supplied.

Owain nodded. "Yep! Selena and I are on good terms now!"

Laslow tilted his head curiously. "Oh really? Did she explain why she drifted apart from us in the first place?"

Owain shrugged. "Yeah, but I didn't pay attention to that part. Something about the eternal rivalry between our two cities and the love of her life splitting her loyalty. I dunno. Point is, since the three of us hail from good ol' Ylisse, she's decided that she can take the time to get together with us again."

Laslow smiled and nodded. "Ah! Good to hear. I'll be looking forward to it."

"And the best part," Owain continued, "she has a daughter our girls' age! Once summer starts, what do you girls think of hanging out with our old friend Sev—Selena and her daughter... Cae... Cal... Caledor?"

Ophelia and Soleil looked to each other, recognizing that fragment of a name, and shared a laugh with Nina, Sophie, and Percy. "No thank you," Ophelia said. "Feel free to hang out with Selena though."

"Alright everyone," Laslow said. "It's about time to head home. Hop in the van!"

"Dad," Soleil said, raising her hand a bit. "May I ride back with Ophelia and her dad?"

Odin clapped his hands together and said, "I'm down for it if you are, Laslow."

Laslow smiled. "Sure thing. I'm glad to see you two getting along again."

"I am too," Ophelia agreed, looking to the girl she had spent the better part of the last year falling in love with. Quietly enough for only those two to hear, she said, "it's like my sun's shining a little brighter."

"Wait a minute!" Sophie called, snatching the trophy from the ground next to the van. She gingerly handed it to Ophelia like she was handing her a baby and said, "Ophelia needs to name the trophy first."

"Oh yeah, that is your thing," Nina said. After everyone on the squad chimed in, Ophelia smiled and examined the trophy from top to bottom. She looked to the little golden plate inscribed with the year, the school, and the coach's name.

With a mischievous grin, she looked to Laslow and said, "this trophy is hereby named Inigo Montoya."

Laslow slapped his forehead amongst the uncontrollable laughter coming from the squad. "Great name, Ophelia," he said quietly. "Now let's get in the van."

The extra space left by Soleil's absence meant there was room for the huge trophy to sit in the van, surrounded by the stuffed animals Percy won that day. Its final resting place, though, was the front and center of Nohr High School's trophy case, as a proud reminder that Cheerleading was, in fact, a sport.

After they graduated, Soleil and Ophelia would sometimes visit the school and (after saying hello to their favorite teachers) admire the trophy that their love helped win. As they held hands and admired the sheen and the plaque that proudly listed Inigo's pseudonym, they reminisced about that day, the year it followed, and all the cheer practices—good and bad—that lead to them falling hopelessly in love.

Soleil could hardly believe there ever was a day where she didn't believe in Cheerleading's legitimacy, while Ophelia could hardly remember a day without Soleil entering her mind. Oh, how the tables had turned.

* * *

 **This fic was a bunch of firsts for me. This was my first attempt at writing this ship, this extensive of a high school AU, and...pretty much all of these Fates characters, so I thank everyone who made it this far into this endeavor. If you liked it, thanks again! And feedback is always appreciated. If you didn't, well, congrats on getting this far at least.**


End file.
